Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang during his official visit to China on Wednesday.
After years of hostility that fueled conflicts across the Middle East, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to end their diplomatic rift and re-open embassies in a major deal facilitated by China last month
During the meeting, both reviewed relations between Saudi Arabia and China, and ways to enhance cooperation in all areas.
The two sides also discussed developments regarding the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, in a way that achieves common interests and enhances efforts to lay the foundations for peace in the region and the world.
Prince Faisal also expressed his appreciation of the positive role that China played in reaching the Saudi-Iranian agreement.
The two countries said in a joint statement they would launch arrangements to reopen embassies and consulates within the two-month period stipulated in the deal last month.
"The technical teams will continue coordination to examine the ways of expanding cooperation including the resumption of flights and bilateral visits of official and private sector delegations and facilitating the granting of visas for the citizens of the two countries," they said.
In March, China's President Xi Jinping helped broker the surprise deal between the rivals to end a seven-year rift and restore diplomatic ties - a display of China's growing influence in the region.
That month, Xi spoke by telephone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud about several issues.
Foreign ministers of Iran, Saudi Arabia meet in China
The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia have met in Beijing in the first formal meeting of the two countries’ top diplomats in seven years.
Saudi Arabia’s state-run broadcaster Al Ekhbariya released brief footage of the meeting on Twitter on Thursday showing Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, shaking hands and smiling in front of a traditional Chinese painting as well as the flags of their respective countries
They then headed into a meeting room where they sat down in wide armchairs and chatted.
فيديو | موفد #الإخبارية إلى بكين عبد الله الرويس: لقاء يجمع وزير الخارجية الأمير فيصل بن فرحان ووزير الخارجية الإيراني حسين أمير عبد اللهيان pic.twitter.com/rz80Vz7VAB
— قناة الإخبارية (@alekhbariyatv) April 6, 2023
Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed in March to restore ties and reopen diplomatic missions within two months after a years-long rift that raised tensions in the Gulf region and deepened conflicts from Yemen to Syria.
The two men discussed steps towards reopening their embassies and consulates, the AFP news agency reported citing Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.
China helped bring the two sides together and broker the landmark agreement.
Riyadh cut formal ties after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi Arabian diplomatic missions in 2016 following Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shia Muslim leader Nimr al-Nimr – one in a series of flashpoints between the two longstanding regional rivals.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian said the Thursday meeting with his Saudi counterpart was "good and forward-looking," according to Iranian state TV.
China's role in the breakthrough shook up dynamics in the Middle East, where the United States has for decades been the main mediator.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was stormed during a dispute between the two countries over Riyadh's execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric.
The kingdom then asked Iranian diplomats to leave within 48 hours while it evacuated its embassy staff from Tehran.
The relationship began worsening a year earlier, after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened in the Yemen war, where the Iran-aligned Houthi movement ousted a Saudi-backed government and took over the capital, Sanaa.
For Saudi Arabia, the rapprochement could mean improved security. The kingdom has blamed Iran for arming the Houthis, who carried out missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabian cities and oil facilities.
In 2019, Riyadh blamed an attack on Aramco oil facilities, which knocked out half of its oil output, directly on the Islamic Republic. Iran denied those accusations.
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