So happy exchanges have taken place. The setting – is Beijing.
The relations between the heavyweights of the Middle East – Saudi Arabia and Iran – are getting warmer by the day after Chinese President Xi Jinping brokered a deal between the two rivals to restore ties. Thursday’s meeting between the two countries foreign ministers was the first formal contact between senior-most diplomats after over seven years. The Middle East had been rocked by proxy wars staged by Riyadh and Tehran as both competed for supremacy, supporting opposite camps. The conflicts had been causing human suffering, infrastructure destruction and fuelling sectarianism.
The rift widened after Saudi Arabia executed Shia cleric Nimr Al Nimr, which led to protests in Tehran and the storming of its embassy in Tehran in 2016. As a result, Riyadh severed diplomatic relations with Tehran. The footage of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian shaking hands was aired on both Saudi and Iranian media. The two ministers were all smiles as they sat side by side.
Under the deal, the two countries would reopen their embassies and fulfil agreements signed over two decades ago. Beijing’s growing influence in the region has somewhat knocked out America’s sole position as mediator. Its diplomatic clout has grown, which can be gauged from the fact that it recently lured another country away from Taiwan, and that country is Honduras.
Though a small nation, it still is an achievement for China, considering America’s influence in the region.
As for Saudi Arabia and Iran, it is a major opportunity. The rapprochement between them would have wide-ranging effects. Their cordial ties are already bearing fruits in the region. The UAE has warmed up to Iran, and Tehran has appointed its ambassador to Abu Dhabi – the first after 2016. Similarly, Syria, the main ally of Iran in the region, was seeing positive gestures from its former adversaries. Syrian President Bashar Al Assad was accorded a warm welcome in Abu Dhabi – his first visit to the country after the 2011 uprising. Saudi Arabia has also hinted at welcoming Syria back into the Arab League fold. If the peace deal persists, it would be a win-win situation for all in the Middle East and beyond.
For Saudi Arabia, it could improve security, and for Iran, it would end its isolation. Yemen, which has been the main flashpoint, could see an end to the conflict that it has been embroiled in for years now. Pakistan too had heaved a sigh of relief with the cosying up of ties. Both countries are of immense importance to Islamabad. It had been in a tight spot for the last several years when Saudi Arabia and Iran were at each other’s throats. The region does not need conflict. Iran and Saudi Arabia can benefit immensely from each other – both economically and politically.
Let’s hope this peace deal holds. It is direly needed.
