On Sunday, Iran’s foreign ministry declared that they would dispatch a delegation to Saudi Arabia by Friday to facilitate the reopening of its diplomatic missions, in light of a comparable move by Riyadh.
The foreign ministry made this announcement one day after a Saudi delegation arrived in Tehran for a similar diplomatic trip, following the historic meeting between the foreign ministers of the two Gulf countries in China. Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Enayati stated in a state television interview that they were expecting a foreign ministry delegation to visit Saudi Arabia by Friday, and that two separate delegations would go to Riyadh and Jeddah to prepare for reopening Iran’s embassy and consulate, respectively.
In January 2016, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran after demonstrators protesting Riyadh’s execution of Saudi opposition Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr attacked its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad.
However, last month, Tehran and Riyadh agreed to restore diplomatic relations, culminating in a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan in the Chinese capital on Thursday. The two ministers pledged to restore security and stability to the volatile Gulf.
Iran, with its Shiite majority, and Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia have supported opposing sides in conflict zones across the region, including Yemen. Riyadh leads a military coalition that supports the internationally recognised government in the Arabian Peninsula, while Tehran backs the Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and a significant portion of the north.
Iran and Saudi Arabia had previously held multiple rounds of discussions in Iraq and Oman before Iran’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and his Saudi counterpart Musaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban negotiated the agreement in Beijing over five days.