The files we follow: Iran’s relations with its neighbouring countries, Iran and the BRICS.
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A Significant Saudi Visit to Iran?
Fayyad Al-Ruwaili, Chief of Staff of Saudi Arabia’s armed forces, traveled to Tehran on 10 November 2024, where he met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Bagheri. This visit marked the second time a high-profile Saudi official visited Iran since the Chinese-brokered normalization deal between the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia in March 2023, the first being Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan in June 2023, and was the first visit by a high-ranking Saudi military official to Iran since the signing of a security cooperation agreement between the two countries in 2001. Al-Ruwaili also met with Gholamreza Mehrabi, Bagheri’s deputy for Intelligence and Security of the Armed Forces General Staff.
Military matters have been part of renewed interactions between the two countries since 2023. During their meeting, Al-Ruwaili and Bagheri discussed bilateral cooperation and the development of defense diplomacy to strengthen security and stability in the region. Al-Ruwaili referred to the 2023 normalization deal that restored their diplomatic relations as a strategic opportunity to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries, while Bagheri proposed Saudi Arabia to join Iran for naval drills next year or participate as an observer.
The 2023 normalization deal ended seven years of broken diplomatic ties and non-existent economic relations following the 2016 attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran during protests over the execution of Saudi Shiite dissident cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Thanks to the agreement, the two countries reopened embassies, Saudi Arabia in Tehran and a consulate in Mashhad, and Iran in Riyadh and a consulate in Jeddah.
Where does the Chinese-brokered normalization agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia stand today?
The reconciliation between the revolutionary Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran and the nationalist Sunni Muslim Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seems to have avoided a full-scale conflagration in the region despite the high tensions brought by the Gaza war. Rather than a revolutionary agreement, the Chinese-brokered deal, facilitated in part by two years of Iraqi and Omani mediation, has laid the foundations for building mutual trust and advancing regional integration, both necessary for a peaceful and cooperative security framework in the Gulf, although the two countries had distinct motivations for pursuing this reconciliation.
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