Panic in Washington...
Iran invites Saudi king to visit Tehran
The Iranian-Saudi reconciliation has opened the door to reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Syria, with discussions underway to readmit Syria to the Arab League
By News Desk - April 17 2023
King Salman (Photo Credit Bandar Algaloud/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Iran officially
Saudi Arabia’s king to visit Tehran, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday, 17 April, after the two Islamic rivals agreed to re-establish relations after years of hostility due to a China-brokered agreement on 10 March.
Following the agreement, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
Saudi King Salman to visit the Islamic Republic, an invitation the Saudi monarch is now reciprocating.
“Iranian President (Ebrahim Raisi) has sent an invitation to the Saudi king in return for an invitation by Riyadh for him,” Iranian spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told a televised news conference.
Technical delegations from both countries are preparing to officially reopen their missions, and Tehran said these missions would restart their activities by 9 May.
Kanaani stated further that “Fortunately, we have taken positive steps. The officials of the two countries have welcomed the technical delegations very well … The political relations between the two countries have been practically restored.”
Riyadh cut relations with Tehran in 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions following the Saudi execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
However, both sides had long been engaged in proxy wars in Iraq and Syria, with Iran supporting the Iraqi and Syrian governments against Al-Qaeda-led insurgencies supported by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkiye under the
of CIA officials in Washington. ISIS was among those insurgent groups
Saudi backing.
The Iranian-Saudi reconciliation has opened the door to reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Syria, with discussions underway to readmit Syria to the Arab League. Syria was barred from the league following the start of the US-led war on Syria in 2011.
The reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran has also led to improved relations between Saudi Arabia and the Ansarallah Resistance Movement in Yemen.
A peace deal in Yemen is currently being negotiated to end the Saudi-Ansarallah war, which has killed hundreds of thousands and caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since its start in 2015.