Iran and Saudi Arabia announce restoration of diplomatic relations
Iran and Saudi Arabia severed ties in 2016.
Iran and Saudi Arabia, Middle Eastern heavyweights that severed ties in 2016, announced on Friday that they would restore diplomatic ties within two months at the end of 2016. x27; resulting from talks in China.
Following talks, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies and [diplomatic] representations within a maximum period of two months, it said. Iran's Irna agency, citing a joint statement released by the two countries' state media.
Sunni Saudi Arabia and Iran Shiites severed ties more than seven years ago, after Saudi diplomatic missions were attacked by protesters in the Islamic Republic following Riyadh's execution of a famous Shiite cleric.
Other Gulf countries including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain subsequently cut diplomatic ties with Tehran in support of Riyadh.
Supreme Council Secretary Iran's national security chief Ali Shamkhani had been in Beijing since Monday for intensive negotiations with his Saudi counterpart in China aimed at resolving the [recent] differences between Tehran and Riyadh, Irna reported.
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The foreign ministers of the two countries will implement this decision and make the necessary arrangements for the exchange of ambassadors, the statement added, without elaborating.
The head of Iranian diplomacy, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, hailed on Twitter the return to normal relations between his country and Saudi Arabia.
The return to normal relations between Tehran and Riyadh offers great opportunities for the two countries, the region and the Muslim world, he said, adding that his ministry would actively launch other regional initiatives, without giving details.
The White House also welcomed Friday's announcement, but it remains to be seen whether Iran will fulfill its obligations, a spokesperson said. speak.
Beginning in April 2021, Iraq hosted a series of meetings between security officials from the two rival powers to bring its two neighbors closer together.< /p>
In their joint statement, Iran and Saudi Arabia thanked Baghdad and the Sultanate of Oman for hosting talks between the two sides in 2021 and 2022.
< p class="e-p">Iraq hailed the new page in the history of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh which support rival parties in several conflicts in the region, notably in Yemen.
Iran has very close ties with Iraq, where the parliament is dominated by pro-Iranian parties and whose government is drawn from this majority.
Another Tehran ally, Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement, called Friday's announcement a good development. Its leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech that the resumption of these relations could help resolve the crises in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the region.
He also said he was confident that this reconciliation would not come at the expense […] of the resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine or at the expense of the Yemeni people.
In their statement, Iran and Saudi Arabia also thanked China for hosting and supporting the discussions in that country.
Beijing had signed a vast 25-year strategic agreement with Tehran in 2021 in areas as varied as energy, security, infrastructure and communications.
The three countries [Iran, Saudi Arabia, China] declare their firm will to make every effort to strengthen regional and international peace and security, said the joint statement issued on Friday.
At the In mid-February, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi paid a three-day state visit to China, the first by an Iranian president in this country for more than 20 years.
In recent months, the Emirates and Kuwait had resumed diplomatic relations with Iran.
