Rabat – Saudi Arabia and Iran have exchanged Eid al Fitr blessings via official diplomatic channels, providing another symbol of warming ties between the two nations. With conflict erupting in Sudan and Ethiopia in recent weeks, the apparent genuine efforts for Saudi and Iranian officials to mend ties and boost cooperation provides a glimmer of hope for increased stability in the region.
Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan this week exchanged official Eid wishes with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian after the official date of Eid al Fitr was announced. In a phone call to discuss the ongoing progress in re-establishing ties, the two diplomats exchanged Eid al Fitr wishes as a symbol of their two countries’ recent historic rapprochement.
Tehran and Riyadh have made significant progress in solidifying the Chinese-brokered agreement to mend ties and renew efforts to breathe life in expansive agreements for regional cooperation that date back to before the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US which had a major impact on the region.
The recent rapprochement between the two former rivals had been thought of as impossible just a year ago, as the two large regional powers were seen as having irreconcilable differences and interests.
The sudden return to positive diplomatic relations in many ways confirmed the extent to which the divisions between the two countries were related to the US and its partnership with Saudi Arabia. As the US has grown increasingly critical of Riyadh, the Saudis repeatedly “threatened” to make peace with Iran in order to gain concessions from Washington.
The US has played a major role in creating a coalition of Middle-Eastern nations against Iran, which is Israel’s perceived greatest regional rival, by providing major arms deals to its allies in the region, boosting their regional power projection at the cost of bilateral relations with Tehran.
Those artificial divisions fell apart as the current US administration remained critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s role in the gruesome death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
With waning support from the US, the Saudis saw no further obstacle to reestablish their pre-2001 positive ties with Iran, a move that appears to already have a positive effect on regional stability after a cease-fire was finally reached in Yemen in recent weeks, with China again providing a mediating role.
