Dubai
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in the highest-level talks since the countries reconciled in March after years of bitter rivalry that destabilised the region.
After the meeting, Iran’s semi-official Abdollahian was quoted as saying the de facto Saudi ruler had accepted his invitation to visit Tehran. The Saudi crown prince has pushed to reorient Saudi foreign policy in recent years amid troubles in its historically close relationship with the United States.
The unscheduled meeting in Jeddah came a day after Amirabdollahian had declared ties between the countries were on the right track as he met his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan. Discussions were frank, beneficial and productive, Abdollahian said in a social media post after meeting the prince, adding that the countries agree on the security and development of all in the region.
Rivalry between Iran’s revolutionary, Shi’ite Muslim leaders and Saudi Arabia’s Sunni ruling family dominated the Middle East for years as they competed for influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Bahrain amid a wave of sectarian bloodshed.
However, China brokered a rapprochement in March leading to a resumption of full diplomatic relations, which Saudi Arabia had broken off in 2016 when protesters attacked its Tehran embassy over Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric. Saudi Arabia had meanwhile lost confidence in U.S. commitment to shared regional security concerns and wanted to bolster ties with China, which has retained good relations with Iran.
