Foreign Ministers of regional rivals Iran, Saudi Arabia meet in China
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Following a China-brokered agreement to restore ties, foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia convened on Thursday the first high-ranking meeting in more than seven years in Beijing.
Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian met in Beijing and greeted each other.
The two parties discussed steps towards reopening the embassies and consulates of the two countries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran said in a statement.
“The foreign ministers of the Islamic republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia negotiated and exchanged opinions with the emphasis on the official resumption of bilateral relations and the executive steps towards the reopening of the embassies and consulates of the two countries,” read the statement.
On March 10, following days of intensive talks in Beijing, Iran and Saudi agreed to thaw relations and to reopen their embassies in each other’s country ending their diplomatic rift.
The China’s President Xi Jinping role in brokering the agreement between the two regional rivals shows its growing influence in the region.
Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to hold a meeting at Foreign Minister level during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, aiming at developing the recent historical agreement of restoring ties between the two countries, the Saudi state news agency SPA said on March 27.
Saudi Arabia cut off relations with Iran in 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in response to Saudi Arabia executing Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Tension between the two countries simmered after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened in the Yemen war, where the Iran-aligned Houthi movement ousted a Saudi-backed government and took over the capital, Sanaa.