Saudi Arabia, Iran restore relations in deal brokered by China

Accord marks diplomatic victory for Beijing in a region where U.S. has long dominated geopolitics.

- Stephen Kalin

Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations Friday in a deal brokered by China, ending seven years of estrangement and jolting the geopolitical alignment of the Middle East.

The deal, which comes after other unsuccessful attempts by Iraq and others to mend fences, marks a diplomatic victory for Beijing in a region where the U.S. has long dominated geopolitics.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are major suppliers of oil to China and have sought closer economic ties, but the agreement is the first time Beijing has weighed in so heavily on the region's rivalries.

The agreement was hammered out in secret in Beijing between top Saudi and Iranian officials over several days, Iranian state-aligned media reported. It comes three months after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in December in Riyadh, and follows Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's trip to Beijing last month.

Under the agreement released by all three countries, Iran and Saudi Arabia will reopen their embassies and missions on each other's soil within two months, and both affirmed noninterference in the internal affairs of other states. The two countries agreed that their foreign ministers will hold a summit soon to hammer out the details.

Ties between the two countries were cut in 2016 after the Saudi Embassy in Tehran was overrun amid protests over the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric by the Saudi government.

Since then, the Iran-Saudi rift has represented the often violent schism between Shiite and Sunni Muslims that has dominated the Middle East for decades.

The Saudis and Iranians have backed opposite sides in conflicts ranging from Syria to Yemen over the past seven years. In 2019, they were on the brink of war when Iran was blamed for missile and drone attacks on a Saudi oil field.