Iran Reopens Embassy in Saudi Arabia; Saudis, Syria Say Working Toward New Ties
Iran reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia for the first time in seven years. The reopening on Wednesday comes after the two countries announced that they would resume diplomatic ties in a rapprochement brokered by China and days after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud signed a joint statement resuming diplomatic relations in Beijing. The embassy reopening came hours after the Iranian foreign ministry said a technical team had arrived in Riyadh to look into reopening the building and consulate general. Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 after attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran following the execution of a Shiite cleric by the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Syria and Saudi Arabia announced in a joint statement today that they are working toward renewing ties. The announcement came following a visit by Syria’s foreign minister to Jeddah on Wednesday, the first visit by a senior Syrian diplomat to Saudi Arabia in more than a decade. Saudi Arabia cut ties with Damascus in 2012 in protest of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on the Arab Spring protests in 2011, and backed rebel groups that fought to remove Assad from power. Syria also was kicked out of the Arab League. Saudi Arabia is hosting the next Arab League summit in May, and it is expected that the organization will consider restoring Syria to membership.
The statement said that Syria and Saudi Arabia are discussing reopening embassies and resuming flights between the two countries. It also said that the meeting focused on discussions toward reaching a “comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis that would … achieve national reconciliation, and contribute to the return of Syria to the Arab fold.” It said that the talks also focused on how to assist “the Syrian state to extend its control over its territories to end the presence of armed militias and external interference in the Syrian internal affairs,” and on facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and the return of Syrian refugees.
