Situation assessment: The Saudi–Iranian rapprochement under Chinese sponsorship — causes and consequences
Saudi–Iranian relations have ebbed and flowed since the 1979 revolution; the latest diplomatic rupture came in 2016 after the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and the attacks on Saudi missions in Iran. The paper reads the rapprochement and its regional meaning.
- Author
- The editorial team
- Date
- 2023-03-21
Saudi–Iranian relations have ebbed and flowed since the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979. The last rupture in Saudi–Iranian diplomatic relations came in 2016, against the background of Saudi Arabia's execution of the Shia leader Nimr al-Nimr on terrorism charges, disregarding Iran's warnings about him — followed by attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. The severing of relations was announced in a speech by the then Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, in which he accused Iran of a history of aggression in the region, of negative interference in the affairs of Arab states, and of the Iranian regime's sheltering of those implicated in terrorist operations in the kingdom.
