Beirut, 29 April 2023 (GNP): Speaking at a news conference in Lebanon on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian revealed that both Saudi Arabia and Iran will reopen their embassies in each other’s capitals “within days”. However, Amir-Abdollahian did not provide precise dates for the re-opening of diplomatic missions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian regarded this move as evidence of the thaw in the bilateral relations between the two countries that cut-off diplomatic ties seven years ago. Both Saudi Arabia and Iran restored their diplomatic ties last month in China and concluded an agreement to restore their diplomatic relations and re-open embassies that were closed back in 2016.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian said that he spoke with the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia on Eid-ul-Fitr where both officials agreed to “reopening of the Iranian and Saudi embassies in Tehran and Riyadh”.
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Both Saudi Arabia and Iran are considered arch-rivals. The tension in their bilateral relationship has resulted in various conflicts across the Middle East, including the Syrian civil war. Their bilateral relations began deteriorating in 2015 when Saudi Arabia intervened in the Yemen war after the Iran-backed Houthi movement toppled the Riyadh-backed government in Sana and seized its control.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian also informed that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would also visit Syrian in “the near future”, again, without providing specific details. However, this visit of the Iranian President to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad would be the first in over a decade since the war broke out in Syria in 2011.
