Market Desk (online): The agreement, which gives Iran and Saudi Arabia 2 months to reopen their respective embassies and re-establish ties after 7 years of rupture, more broadly represents one of the most striking shifts in Middle Eastern diplomacy over recent years. In countries like Yemen and Syria long caught between the Sunni kingdom.
In Israel, it caused disappointment along with finger-pointing.
One of Netanyahu’s greatest foreign policy triumphs remains Israel’s US brokered normalization deals in 2020 with four Arab states including Bahrain and UAE They were part of a wider push to isolate and oppose Iran in the region.
The impact of the deal could be greatest in Yemen, where a Saudi-led military coalition has been battling Iran-backed Houthi rebels since 2015.
It also makes more sense given the lack of initiative between Tehran and Washington to revive the nuclear deal, said Torbjörn Soltvet of risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft. He said that Saudi Arabia feels the need to protect its relations with Iran without seeing signs of easing tensions between the US and Iran.
Aaron Lund of the Century International think tank said the deal’s implications could extend to regional reunification in Syria. Saudi Arabia has long opposed that reunification in part because of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s closeness to Iran.
Aaron Lund said it’s not clear whether these issues are tied to the contract at this point. However, as Saudi-Iranian hostility decreases, Saudi-Syrian harmony will increase.
Several analysts said how Friday’s progress took place was more significant than the deal’s regional implications. This unexpected deal was made possible through the mediation of China.
Saudi analysts said China’s role made the deal with Iran more likely to last. China is now the ‘godfather’ of the deal and carries a lot of weight.
Ibaish said the US has a decades-old partnership with Riyadh. This agreement between Saudi Arabia – Iran mediated by China and it is undoubtedly made Washington uncomfortable.
He said the Biden administration would emphasize the need for a diplomatic approach rather than conflict in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf region.
