What is the meaning of the 'unexpected' agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran that surprised the world including the Middle East?
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Two Middle Eastern rivals, Iran and Saudi Arabia, made an unexpected announcement last week to restore diplomatic ties severed for years and extend a hand of friendship to each other as a result of China's mediation.
In 2016, after a few incidents, Iran and Saudi Arabia severed their diplomatic relations. Diplomatic ties were severed when Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy after a prominent Shia cleric was executed in Saudi Arabia.
Since this incident, there has been a lot of tension between Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and Shia-majority Iran. These two countries competing for supremacy in the Middle East have been considering each other as a threat and in this competition, both countries have been supporting rival factions in ongoing conflicts in many countries of the Middle East, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. are
While Iran supports the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Saudi Arabia carries out airstrikes against these rebels.
But despite all these conflicts, now these two countries have unexpectedly announced their determination to extend the hand of friendship to each other. But what does this important development mean? Before knowing the answer to this question, it is necessary to examine the cold and hostile relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
China's intervention in this matter is very interesting. The deal was brokered by China's top diplomat and is seen as China's growing role in the Middle East.
However, the withdrawal of American troops from the Gulf region cannot be seen as the diminishing interest of the United States in the region. But Saudi Arabia and some other countries in the region feel that they can no longer rely solely on the United States for their security needs (meaning they have to do some of their own).
Countries in the region have seen how the United States left Egypt's Hosni Mubarak government alone to fend for itself during the Arab Spring. Arab countries also saw how Russia supported Syria's Assad regime despite being accused of serious human rights violations.
In addition, when former American President Barack Obama announced the importance of the Eastern region and the Asia-Pacific region in American foreign policy, the Arab countries felt that they could no longer rely on the United States for their security needs.
Although the US is still the country that guarantees the security of Saudi Arabia and is also its main supplier in terms of weapons. But now Arab countries are trying to diversify their diplomatic relations.