By sending their ambassadors to each other’s countries, Saudi Arabia and Iran sealed their rapprochement after years of diplomatic ice age. Saudi Arabia’s ambassador, Abdullah Alanasi, arrived in Tehran yesterday, the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh announced. Meanwhile, Iranian ambassador Aliresa Enajati took up his post in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.
The two rival regional powers came closer again in March through China’s mediation. Previously, there was a seven-year diplomatic ice age between the two countries after Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked during protests against the execution of a Shiite cleric by Saudi Arabia’s judiciary.
In mid-June, Crown Prince Faisal bin Farhan became the first Saudi foreign minister to travel to Iran since 2006. That same month, Iran reopened its embassy and consulates in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, in turn, opened its embassy in Tehran in early August. In mid-August, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian traveled to Riyadh.
The rapprochement between Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, and Shia-majority Iran, sanctioned by the West for its nuclear program, has the potential to alter the balance of power in a region that has been devastated by conflict for decades. . However, both countries represent very different positions on many regional issues or even – as in Yemen – support rival warring parties.