Tehran: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has invited Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi to visit Saudi Arabia. Iranian media reported that President Raisi accepted the invitation. Due to this, it is claimed that the diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, which was broken in 2016, will start anew and both countries will also open their embassies soon. Due to this, it is seen that the diplomatic and economic dilemma of Iran by the Middle East countries will break. Saudi and Iranian analysts believe this will have far-reaching effects on the Middle East.
In 2016, the Saudi Arabian regime sentenced local Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr to death. This had a strong impact in Iran and the Saudi embassy in Iran was attacked. After this, both countries closed their embassies in each other’s countries. After this, the pro-Saudi Gulf countries UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan excluded Iran and Syria from the regional organisation. Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have supported the rebels in the ongoing struggle against the Assad regime in Syria. Arab allies blamed Iran for trying to stage a coup in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia had warned that Iran would acquire them if it got nuclear weapons.
Moreover, China’s mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia 10 days ago is becoming important in such a situation. After almost six years, the two rival countries in the Middle East are moving to establish new cooperation. A meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia is expected soon after the talks held in China between the national security advisors of the two countries. At the same time, it is said that Iran and Saudi Arabia will open embassies in each other’s countries in the next two months.
Furthermore, it is claimed that discussions on security and economic cooperation between the two countries can be held soon. If this happens, the political, economic and military crisis between Iran and Saudi Arabia for the past several years will break out, and the media of both countries are giving such news. Middle Eastern analysts say that this will also establish cooperation between the supporters of these two countries in the Middle East. Iran’s Ministry of Fuel has also given such indications.
Meanwhile, Iran has said it expects Saudi investment in its fuel sector before political and economic ties are established. Iran’s Ministry of Energy said this is also expected from the Saudi-influenced OPEC Plus. Iran’s fuel production and exports have drastically decreased since the US sanctions in 2018. Against this backdrop, Iran seeks investment from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC-plus countries. However, pro-Iranian Houthi rebels in Yemen are warning that they will not stop operations against Saudi Arabia. If these rebels continue their anti-Saudi activities, the Saudis may increase their distrust of Iran, jeopardising their talks.
