Iran's reopens embassy in Saudi Arabia after several years

Riyadh: The Iranian embassy in Saudi Arabia reopened its doors on Wednesday for the first time in seven years as part of an agreement to re-establish contacts that may lessen a long-standing rivalry between the two major Islamic powers that has contributed to tensions throughout the Middle East.

According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the heavy gates of the Iranian embassy’s compound were open in Riyadh with a team inspecting its premises. A white truck was seen arriving at the gate.

After the Iranian foreign ministry reported that a technical group had arrived in the kingdom, the diplomatic mission was officially launched.

“The Iranian delegation will take the necessary measures in Riyadh and Jeddah to set up the embassy and consulate general,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, said in a statement.

Since Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran in 2016 as a result of its embassy in Tehran being stormed during a disagreement between the two nations over Riyadh’s death of a Shi’ite preacher, the mission had been closed. When it evacuated its embassy workers from Tehran, the kingdom then demanded that Iranian diplomats go within 48 hours.

After Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the war in Yemen, where the Iran-aligned Houthi movement had overthrown a Saudi-backed government and taken control of the nation’s capital Sanaa, the relationship had deteriorated further.

Riyadh accused Iran of equipping the Houthis, who later utilised armed drones and ballistic missiles to target Saudi cities. In 2019, the monarchy directly blamed the Islamic Republic of Iran for an attack on Aramco oil facilities that cut off half of its oil output.

Iran has refuted these allegations.

Conflict in the region was exacerbated by the animosity between the two largest oil producers and archrivals in the area. In a deal mediated by China last month, they consented to halt their diplomatic dispute and reopen their diplomatic missions.

For the first official assembly of its senior diplomats, the foreign ministers of the two nations convened in Beijing earlier this month.

The foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that Saudi officials had also arrived in Iran to discuss the process for restoring Riyadh’s embassies in the cities of Tehran and Mashhad in Iran.

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