Adds comments from the White House
Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume bilateral relations and reopen embassies following a week of negotiations mediated by China.
The talks, which were based on an initiative of Chinese president Xi Jinping, were held in Beijing on 6-10 March. The agreement includes the reopening of embassies "within a maximum period of two months," according to a statement reported by Iranian and Saudi state news agencies. "They also agreed to activate the security co-operation agreement signed between them in April 2001, and the general agreement for co-operation in the field of economy, trade and investment signed in May 1998," the statement said.
The agreement marks the first prominent effort by Beijing to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East — a role traditionally played by Washington. It was announced on the same day that Xi formally secured his third term as president at China's annual parliamentary session, the National People's Congress. Xi visited Saudi Arabia in December and hosted Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi in Beijing last month.
The deal was signed by the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, his Saudi counterpart Mosaed bin Mohammad Al-Aiban and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi. The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia will now hold meetings to activate the agreement and arrange for the exchange of ambassadors.
Saudi Arabia and other Mideast Gulf countries cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 after Iranians stormed two Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran in protest against Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Regional relations deteriorated in 2018 after former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Oil facilities in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have come under attack in recent years by groups linked to Iran, including Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Signs of a thawing in relations between Iran and its Arab neighbours emerged last summer when the UAE and Kuwait announced plans to reinstate their ambassadors to Iran for the first time since the 2016 incident. Saudi Arabia and Iran have also been working to cool tensions through a series of talks in Baghdad, mediated by former Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
"We will support any effort to de-escalate tensions in the region because it's in our interests," the White House said today, adding that Riyadh kept the US informed of the talks in Beijing.
Today's agreement builds on previous efforts mediated by Oman and Iraq and "we've always supported that process toward the end of the war in Yemen and toward an end to Iran's aggression," the White House said.
The US assesses that Iran's willingness to negotiate with Saudi Arabia reflects internal pressure on Tehran and Riyadh's ability to deter attacks by Iran and its proxies, the White House said. "It really does remain to be seen whether the Iranians are going to honor their side of the deal," the White House said.
