UN, EU welcome resumption of Iran-Saudi Arabia relations

Spokesman of the United Nations Secretary General Stéphane Dujarric said “good neighborly ties between the two important countries “are essential for the stability” of the region.

On behalf of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Dujarric stated the United Nations is ready “to further advance regional dialogue and to ensure durable peace and security” in the region.

The spokesperson for the European Union foreign policy chief has also welcomed the restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia

The European Union “looks forward to its implementation,” Peter Stano noted.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have reached an agreement in the Chinese capital of Beijing to restore their diplomatic relations and re-open embassies and missions within two months, seven years after their ties were broken off over several issues.

The agreement was struck on Friday after several days of intensive negotiations between Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani and his Saudi counterpart in Beijing. It was officially announced in a joint statement by Iran, Saudi Arabia and China.

The statement was inked by Shakhani, Musaid Al Aiban, Saudi Arabia’s national security adviser, and Wang Yi, the director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party.

Iran, Saudi Arabia and China expressed their firm determination to make their utmost efforts to promote regional and international peace and security, according to a statement.

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran in January 2016 after Iranian protesters, enraged by the execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr by the Saudi government, stormed its embassy in Tehran.

The two sides had held five rounds of negotiations in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad since April 2021.

In their joint statement, Iran and Saudi Arabia also thanked Iraq and Oman for hosting the talks between the two sides in 2021 and 2022 as well as the leaders and government of the People’s Republic of China for hosting and supporting the talks held in that country.