In a move that is going to have major significance for the world and the region, Saudi Arabia and Iran on March 10, 2023 announced to restore diplomatic ties.
Key Points
- The ties between Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shia-majority China have been severed for more than seven years.
- The talks between these countries were hosted by China.
- Saudi Arabia had announced to sever diplomatic relations with Iran in January 2016 in a response to protesters storming its embassy in Tehran, following Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.
- As per the agreement, Iran And Saudi Arabia will revive a security cooperation pact, reopen embassies in each other’s countries, and resume trade, investment and cultural accords.
- Saudi Arabia and Iran also agreed to activate a 2001 security cooperation agreement, as well as a general economy, trade and investment agreement signed in 1999.
Saudi Arabia-Iran Rivalry
- Iran and Saudi Arabia regard each other as rival power centres.
- The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran can be traced back to Islamic sectarianism.
- While Iran is regarded as the foremost Shia state in the world, Saudi Arabia is considered to be the religious home of Sunni Islam.
- This sectarian rivalry did not remain confined to religion, as both countries remained engaged in a battle for regional supremacy.
- Both countries support rival sides in West Asia and the Gulf.
- Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen had seen rivalries between these countries in the recent past, as armed groups backed by Iran and Saudi Arabia fought for dominance.
- Iran supported Shia Houthi rebels who overthrew the Saudi-backed government in 2014. Saudi Arabia has launched devastating air strikes against the Houthis since then.
- Since Islamic Revolutions in Iran in 1979, two countries have been at ideological and military loggerheads.
- While Saudi Arabia is being seen as pro-west in the region, Iran remains hostile to the West and the US.
- Tension between the two countries escalated into a region-wide proxy war after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
- In Syria, Iran supported President Bashar al-Assad as he brutalised his own people.
- In Lebanon too, Iran and Saudi Arabia have backed different factions, contributing to a two-decade-long political crisis.
- The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia also engulfed many regional and international Islamic organisations, such as the League of Arab States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Restoration of Ties Between Saudi Arabia And Iran: Major Implications
- The patch-up between these two countries will lead to a major realignment in West Asia.
- The biggest loser of this realignment is going to be the United States, while China will be the biggest gainer, as its military and economic influence will grow in the region.
- Iran’s ties with Saudi Arabia have resumed at the same time as negotiations between Iran and the United States to revive the 2016 nuclear deal remain stuck.
- Significantly, Saudi Arabia’s relations with the US has become strained in recent years, while its ties with China have improved considerably.
- Unlike the United States, China has been able to transcend the many rivalries that exist in this Muslim-dominated region.
- China has forged good diplomatic relations with countries across the region, while the US’ influence in the region has diminished.
- Restoration of diplomatic relations is expected to usher in a new era in the Middle East.
- Better diplomatic linkages between Saudi Arabia and Iran will reduce the likelihood for regional conflict and will reduce regional tensions.
- China has “a clear interest” in improving ties and stability in the region as the Gulf is a vital source of energy for Beijing, which imports energy from Iran and Saudi Arabia.
- Analysts say both sides stand to benefit from de-escalation, as Iran seeks to undercut U.S. efforts to isolate it in the region and Saudi Arabia tries to focus on economic development.
- The agreement has potentially wide implications for the Iran nuclear deal and the civil war in Yemen.
- By mending ties with Iran, Saudi Arabia has also demonstrated that it is capable of conducting its foreign policy independent of the west.
- The deal could have implications for a US-led effort to isolate Iran economically through sanctions. If the ties really improve between these two countries, Iran will also see Saudi investment in the near future.
- In Yemen, the Saudis have been backing the internationally recognised government in an eight-year civil war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels based in the north.
- Saudi Arabia will hope that Iran will halt Houthi drone and missile strikes on the kingdom.
- The deal has come as a major blow to Israel, as it has been trying global isolation for its arch rival Iran. Israel may not succeed in creating a regional alliance” against the Islamic Republic.
- Interestingly, Saudi Arabia has refused to join the Abraham Accords that normalised relations between Israel and some Arab states.