Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to establish diplomatic relations
Iran and Saudi Arabian senior security officials, who started negotiations on March 6 in Beijing, the capital of China, through the Chinese authorities, reached an agreement to normalize relations between Tehran and Riyadh, according to the Iranian state television.
The agreement reached between Tehran and Riyadh after 7 years was announced with a joint statement by Iran, Saudi Arabia and China.
In the statement, it was stated that Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on the resumption of diplomatic relations and the mutual reopening of embassies and representations within two months.
It was stated that the foreign ministers of the two countries will meet soon to carry out the process and clarify the details.
Iran-Saudi Arabia relations
On January 2, 2016, 47 people, including the Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, were executed on charges of “terrorism” in Saudi Arabia. After the statements made by the Iranian authorities who reacted to the executions, the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran and the consulate buildings in the city of Mashhad were set on fire by the demonstrators in Iran. Diplomatic relations between the two countries, which were already strained due to the crisis in Yemen that started in March 2015, were completely cut off.
Iranian and Saudi Arabian officials met in Baghdad in April 2021 to hold direct talks, and the Iraqi-mediated talks continued thereafter.
