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In a surprising move to many international peace observers, rivals the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to reestablish diplomatic fellowship and to reopen embassies after some seven years of strained relations.
Iraq, Oman and China helped to broker the rapprochement.
The announcement of the detente came from Beijing amid weeks of reports and speculation that Israel and Saudi were working to normalize relations, with both sides viewing Iran as an enemy.
No official comment on the Saudi-Iranian re-commitment had been offered by Israeli officials representing the current administration by the end of business in the United States on Friday.
Over the last two years, at least, Beijing has offered to host a united summit for direct peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine, to help end their decades-long conflict.
So the Saudi-Iranian normalization could serve as a catalyst for stamping China as the leading influence in the Middle East and Persian Gulf peace movements.
The peace-focused United Nations thanked China for its role in the Saudi-Iranian deal, and welcomed the revived communications and open understandings.
“Good neighborly relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are essential for the stability of the Gulf region,” U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at U.N. headquarters.
The U.S. welcomed “any efforts to help end the war in Yemen and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Both the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi are entrenched on opposite sides of Yemen's years-long civil war.
Tensions have run hot between Iran and Saudi Arabia since 2016 after protesters in Iran overran Saudi diplomatic garrisons.
The Kingdom had reportedly executed a well-known Shiite cleric along with 46 others, triggering the demonstrations.
Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim kingdom, hosts the Kaaba that Muslims pray towards five times per day. Iran, meanwhile, is a Shiite Muslim theocracy.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban and Wang Yi, China's most senior diplomat appeared together in Beijing.
Yi is the communicably experienced director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
A joint statement from the nations involved called for reestablishing ties and reopening embassies “within a maximum period of two months.”
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