Iranian and Saudi state media announced a new agreement that Tehran and Riyadh normalize relations under an agreement brokered by China. The deal between the Middle East rivals comes after American interference in talks.
"After several days of intensive negotiations between [Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali] Shamkhani and Saudi Arabia’s national security adviser Musaid Al Aiban in Beijing, an agreement was reached on Friday aimed at resuming relations between the two countries," Iranian state media, IRNA, wrote.
Saudi state media affirmed the IRNA report with a press release. Beijing, Tehran and Riyadh "announce that an agreement has been reached between [Saudi] and the [Iran], that includes an agreement to resume diplomatic relations between them and re-open their embassies and missions within a period not exceeding two months." It continued, "they also agreed that the ministers of foreign affairs of both countries shall meet to implement this, arrange for the return of their ambassadors, and discuss means of enhancing bilateral relations."
The deal also includes a commitment by Iran, Saudi Arabia and China to "make every effort to strengthen regional and international peace and security."
The agreement calls for Tehran and Riyadh to respect other nations’ sovereignty. Additionally, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to implement accords that were signed in 1998 and 2001. The talks between Tehran and Riyadh occurred in Beijing this week and the deal was inked during a ceremony on Friday.
China’s most senior foreign policy official, Wang Yi, celebrated the signing as a "victory." "This is a victory for the dialogue, a victory for peace, and is major positive news for the world which is currently so turbulent and restive, and it sends a clear signal," he said.
Tehran and Riyadh cut ties in 2016 after Saudi Arabia carried out the execution of a prominent Shia cleric. This resulted in protesters storming the Saudi embassy in Iran, provoking the end of ties between the two nations.
Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been inflamed by other conflicts in the Middle East. In Syria and Iraq, Saudi Arabia backed extremist forces and Iran backed the armies of Damascus and Baghdad. In Yemen, Riyadh has fought a war against the Houthis for nearly a decade. Saudi Arabia claims the Houthis are a proxy force of Iran. However, Riyadh, and its supporters in Washington, have failed to present credible evidence that Tehran provides any significant support to the Houthis.
In late 2019, Saudi Arabia sought to improve relations with Iran. Baghdad attempted to foster diplomacy between its two neighbors. Iranian General Qussam Soleimani arrived at the Baghdad Airport on January 3, 2020 with a diplomatic message for Saudi Arabia when he was killed by an American drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump. Soleimani’s death ended negotiations until 2021.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, said the deal was "good news." The agreement is "good news for the Middle East, since Saudi-Iranian tensions have been a driver of instability in the region," Parsi told the New York Times.
Foreign policy analysts from more hawkish think tanks had a different reaction. Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called the deal "a lose, lose, lose for American interests." Mohammed Khalid Alyahya, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and fellow at the Belfer Center, told the NYT, "that is a reflection of China’s growing strategic clout in the region – the fact that it has a lot of leverage over the Iranians, the fact it has very deep and important economic relations with the Saudis."
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.
I’m sure Israel’s top diplomat is instructing the Biden administration how to denounce this atrocious peace making. Why, we might have to step up our world war and the death of billions to counter this outrage!
Yes, … it’s an outrage to Jared Kushner’s historic diplomatic achievement.
I have always wondered if Kushner prioritized the US, or the Trump family.
Good point. Indeed, I recall something about a Kushner property -was it 666 Park Ave.?- was tanking and got an infusion of Saudi premium rent.
Or a third option. Jared Kushner.
Over the objections of Saudi money advisors, MBS put Kush in charge of $2Billion of Saudi money. I bet that comes with some nice management fees.
I think you forgot to include ‘/s’.
Poor Israel may have no Iranian nukes to be afraid of!! It is “highly likely” that Iran has promised Saudi Arabia NOT to go on that route, so Israel can stop its fearmongering.
I don’t mind the ‘fear mongering’, it is the foaming at the mouth that bothers me.
I just read in Scheerpost that lithium has been discovered in Iran. The article suggests it may be quite beneficial for China due to the U.S. perhaps being able to prevent countries in the Southern Hemisphere from providing the material to China (choke off sales by sanctions, etc). Current estimates are that Iran has approximately 10% of the world supply of the material. Iran officials believe there may be more. Much more.
China is also producing lithium. China has a lot of it. Also China has every kind of rare earth metals. Of China will buy everything what Iran can sell. Particular the oil. China needs a lot of oil. And gas too.
Don’t forget Russia has 50% of the nuclear fuel needed for nuclear power plants eg France needs a lot of this!!! Macron is crying!
Afghanistan has very rich lithium resources.
See, the US is making our “enemies” closer!
Wow. This must have seriously pissed off a whole lot of people. A whole lot of the right people.
Good! China deserves credit for brokering peace. When are gonna allow Ukraine and Russia to start a peace deal?
Ukraine refuses. Russia awaits the call.
Lol Wars, can you imagine? A peace deal struck between two former adversaries brokered by CHINA! 😂
Take THAT, Murka and IsraHell! I can smell their fumes from here!
And it is a terrible smell…
Better to be pissed off, then to be pissed on. 🙂
Not always. 😉
How about if you’re pissed off because you were pissed on? Regardless, send the tapes. I’ll be the judge.
Then the right person wasn’t doing the pissing. 😉
No tapes. She was shy.
Headline: Saudi Arabia Seeks US Security Guarantees for Israel Ties
Headline: Iran, Saudi Arabia Will Normalize Ties Under Agreement Brokered by China
You can’t make this sh*T up!
Unfortunately, the hawkish views detailed in the last paragraph are the ones that will guide US policy.
We are losing in our attempts to get India and China to fight each other, we lost a major round in our attempts to get Saudi Arabia and Iran to fight each other, and unfortunately for US interests even Pakistan and India are starting to be less hostile to each either.
This is a major victory for China.
From what I can tell, China generally offers opportunities to other countries, while the US generally offers threats. Perhaps something will change after the 2024 election.
I would not bet on that.The Republicans are no savior and neither is Joe Biden.
Wendell, we absolutely MUST have a viable third-party candidate, someone who is universally loved and wealthy enough to fund his/ her own campaign.
Bruce Springsteen keeps sticking in my mind.
Bruce Springsteen meets neither of your qualifications. A lot of people actively dislike him, and if he liquidated his entire net worth he’d have less than half of what a major party presidential campaign costs these days.
At least he was Born in the USA. And just owning that for a theme song would be worth 10 points.
I like Springsteen myself.
A lot of people don’t like his politics, and some who may not think they don’t like his politics would realize they don’t like his politics if they actually listened to that song.
And while he has a nice net worth, that’s a different thing from having $X in cash lying around to spend on whatever he wants.
If he ran, I’d certainly take a hard look at him. But these days, even a Ross Perot couldn’t self-finance a presidential campaign at anything like a competitive level. Trump pretended he was going to, but didn’t.
You think Springsteen couldn’t be elected president? Two words: Donald. Trump. For all we know the next president might rap the oath of office.
If I thought Springsteen couldn’t be elected president, that’s what I’d have said.
What I DID say is that Springsteen is not “universally loved and wealthy enough to fund his/ her own campaign.”
Lol Ted… remember when Reagan thought that was a “ patriotic song”?
I’m American and I like it so that makes it a patriotic song.
I hear ya Ted!
I knew quite a few guys who “got in a little hometown jam” and were given the choice of jail or Nam.
That song is as classic as it gets.
Thomas, that just makes me sad…
Well Thomas…we could set up a Go Fund Me page for him 🙂
If he ran, and I found his platform compelling, I’d make some kind of donation — probably even if he ran as a Democrat.
The only major-party donation I’ve made in the last 35 years or so was in 2020 to Mike Gravel for the Democratic primary. Because he was the anti-war candidate (much more so than Gabbard), and because I knew and liked him.
Thomas our only other option is to have YOU run! 😁
I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected 😀
And even if I ran, I wouldn’t bet on me doing well. The ticket I ran for vice-president on in 2008 placed 15th.
Thomas….you ran for VP?! 😳
Wow!
It was a minor thing, basically a reaction to the Libertarian Party sh*tting the bed and nominating Bob Barr. I was the “national” VP nominee of the Boston Tea Party (which I founded in 2006), but we had a “favorite son or daughter” strategy and there were other VP candidates (in several states, porn star Marilyn Chambers, who was the girlfriend of our presidential nominee, Charles Jay). I was only on the ballot in Tennessee. And we weren’t on the ballot in my state (Missouri), so I ended up voting for Cynthia McKinney.
I also came within one vote of being the Reform Party’s VP nominee in 2016. Darcy Richardson, a friend of mine, ran for their presidential nomination and asked me to be his running mate, and missed the nomination by one vote at their convention (which I think had eight delegates or some such crazy thing).
Still Thomas, you had your name on the ballot!
That makes both of us who voted for Cynthia. Love, love, love that brave woman.
“Around May 1951, Gravel saw that he was about to be drafted and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term so that he could get into the Counterintelligence Corps. After basic training and counterintelligence school at Fort Holabird in Maryland and in South Carolina, he went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. While he expected to be sent off to the Korean War when he graduated as a second lieutenant in early 1952, he was instead assigned to Stuttgart, West Germany, as a Special Adjutant in the Army’s Communications Intelligence Service. In Germany, Gravel conducted surveillance operations on civilians and paid off spies. After about a year, he transferred to Orléans, France, where his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.
Following his discharge, Gravel entered the Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, where he studied economics and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1956. He moved to New York “flat broke” and supported himself by working as a bar boy in a hotel, driving a taxicab, and working in the investment bond department at Bankers Trust. During this time he left the Roman Catholic faith.”
Is it “his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies. He worked as a Special Agent in the Counterintelligence Corps until 1954, eventually becoming a first lieutenant.” bit that made you respect Gravel the most?
The bits that made me respect Gravel were:
1) His reading of the Pentagon Papers into the congressional record to end the nonsense about trying to stop newspapers from publishing them; and
2) His pushing to end the draft.
Speaking of the Pentagon Papers, I also respect Daniel Ellsberg, who was a Marine infantry officer and then worked for the RAND Corporation until he turned on the Vietnam war (and war in general).
So this bit – “his French language abilities (if not his French-Canadian accent) allowed him to infiltrate French communist rallies.” is of no consequence to you.
Speaking of Daniel Ellsberg and Pentagon Papers, Afghanistan Papers were no less revealing in exposing the US regime’s absolute determination to ruin the future of the long-suffering country, which would’ve been better off under Soviet humanitarian assistance and influence.
It’s not that it’s of “no consequence” to me. It’s just a simple fact that many people who later became pro-peace got their start as Cold Warriors. Including me.
And the world! Just not the people running the USA as a worldwide parasite, growing fat on war and death.
And fuck those guys.
The big news is China’s role … there’s a new sheriff in town and he comes in with trade agreements, not weapons deals.
Let’s hope this deal means things improve for Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, among the countries caught in the crossroads recently.
Putin rattled the cage, it is paying off, it is also indirectly a victory for Putin.
My thoughts as well. I believe that Putin played a very large supporting role.
Yes, in the last years, Russia/Saudi relations improved greatly. 5 years ago king Salman visited Moscow. Iran and Russia also became much closer. Particular in the last year. Russia, the same as China, is working for promoting the peace. Much was done to stop hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Also between Pakistan and India, India and China, Turkey and Syria. If USA would work in the same direction, we could have a much better world.
Peace is not profitable for the people who count …
Especially if they only count in US dollars, which may gradually mean less if these other countries work together to resolve, not expand, wars and hatred.
!!!
Not if the US has its way.We all.should have learned this.by.now.
And let’s hope it improves things for Palestine.
of course it is not.
Get ready for the war party to lash out. This is a win for China and world peace. I’m just sad that America has created such a mess of the world..
!!!
And probably will continue to.do.so.It is the only way they know.My way or.the.bus.
China is promoting the peace. USA is promoting the war.
Not because Chinese people are better than American people but because the socialist party (it is communist only by the name) is better than the oligarchy.
China proves to be an effective negotiator at the World Stage with this brokerage between Iran and Saudi Arabia… Most people in the world are peace focused… On the other hard no one would trust US to be a peace broker since it is the number one warmonger in the World…!
No room for argument netman.
We need Chinese style Socialism.desperately in the US but I am.not holding my breath.
Unfortunately, it is impossible.
No necessarily even that. A bit of diplomacy and understanding of different points of view and needs of “enemies” would help.
It`s the reason you don`t have full health care at no cost at the point of use , the US Government has been able to link free health care with COMMUNISM and to the eternal shame of US citizens they actually believe it , catch Michael Moores doc SICKO , every US citizen should watch it and see how they are being CONNED .
There socialism in Amerika only it’s for the 11%;-)
bullshit. china is just as dangerous to the planet as the imperial US
Mark Dubowitz is disciple of Netanyahu, who loves wars.
The Victoria Nulands in the Biden administration make it clear, the real villains are the warmongers in the USA, not Russia.
The pipeline sabotage must have made it clear to the Germans and the people in the EU.
We all.have heard the term Self Hating Jew.Now we must add self.hating American tired of our foreign policy that makes it impossible to.fix the things necessary to raise the standard of living of OUR people.
“Iran, Saudi Arabia Will Normalize Ties Under Agreement Brokered by China”
bad guys, bad guys and the other bad guys
dudes you couldn’t make this sh*t up
“Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, called the deal “a lose, lose, lose for American interests.””
To celebrate that piece of good news, I am celebrating with a Martini!
As a former bartender, I’ll be serving all of us 🙂
“In Yemen, Riyadh has fought a war against the Houthis for nearly a decade. Saudi Arabia claims the Houthis are a proxy force of Iran. However, Riyadh, and its supporters in Washington, have failed to present credible evidence that Tehran provides any significant support to the Houthis.”
That’s curious…..
From yesterday:
DUBAI, March 9 (Reuters) – “Yemen’s main southern separatist group on Thursday voiced concern about direct talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi movement and warned against any deal that goes beyond the parametres of United Nations-led peace efforts.
Yemen has been split by an eight-year-old conflict pitting the Iran-aligned Houthis, de facto authorities in North Yemen, against a fractious coalition led by Riyadh, including southern forces backed by the United Arab Emirates.” https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/yemeni-southern-separatists-voice-frustration-over-saudi-houthi-talks-2023-03-09/
I know we were told there isn’t any ” credible evidence” of Iran’s connections with the Houthi but this renormalization sure does seem to be causing these direct talks.
Perhaps if the Chinese see the business opportunities in Ukraine as they obviously see here, they’ll throw some money at Ukraine and get the talks started there too?
Somebody’s gonna be pissed.
This was in the cards since 2017 palace coup in Riyadh. MBS opened embassy in Baghdad specifically to have a venue to communicate wiith Iran. A slew of false flags folliwed, from attack on tankers in UAE to attack on Saudi oil facility. Every effort was made to use Saudi-Iranian tensions as an excuse to fuel Sunni Shia split. Fanning flames of the religious divide in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon. In Yemen, a return to two states (at least) is a foregone conclusion no matter US endless intervention. Now that Saydi and Houthi (North Yemen). have a largelly stable cease fire, there is a potential for resolution. Saudi l-Iran relatiinship is the foundation of solving law ng simmering problems.
Saudi Arabia gains a large market, Iran gains an important partner in solving all religious tensions in tge ME.
Iran is naive if it thinks it can trust Israel-loving Wahhabi Arabia. I honestly think the leadership of Iran aren’t all that much serious about resistance and tend to cave in easily. They seem weaker and more naive than Putin. The rulers there don’t seem to act like they’re hardliners.
“The deal between the Middle East rivals comes after American interference in talks.”
This wasn’t explained, how?
Perhaps, he is referring to the assassination of Iranian general and his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad’s airport…!
Maybe China can help us with Mexico and Cuba.
They can…! The question is will they be allowed…?!
This is what comes to the US for its policies. This was the US position to lose, and the US lost it. Deservedly so.
And the second biggest loser… is Israel…!
Good news.
This is good news. I don’t really trust the Saudie though
Wow—and just a few days ago SA and Israel were giving each other tongue baths over their united enemy.
I had to check that it wasn’t April 1st today.
Watch the full court press against SA in US media and politics that will start
yesterday.
Stupid USA making enemies with great nations (Iran) at the behest of
its little petulant problem child (Israel)
Hopefully this means people in Yemen will be able to breathe again
Oops. I overlooked. This is also a message for Netanyahu and Biden. “If there are issues between Israel and Iran these must be settled peaceably and peacefully at the negotiating table”. Our facilities in Beijing are available for that purpose!
If the US does not stop starting wars and selling weapons of death for.power and profit America is going to wind out in the cold along with their buddy Israel
Yes this is big. Very big.
Will Israel now jeopardize its at least peaceful relations with Saudi Arabia? And what, if any, will be Biden’s response? More bully?
remember when arabs and persians were mortal enemies
Will they trust each other? No.
Will they do everything in their power not to undermine each others sovereignty? No.
Do they need to play nice with each other to be part of the great BRICS system in the near future? Yes.
They’ve already managed to de-escalate the Yemen conflict. They do have a strong shared interest in regional stability for their own economic prosperity.
So even antiwar.com hardly mentions this HUGE step towards peace. Other Western media do not include it as news at all.
‘ Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies, called the deal “a lose, lose, lose for American
interests.”‘ AHA! No USA there. I wonder why! How terrible if several very important conflicts could be resolved now-Syria, Yemen, Iran sanctions, which of course means less conflict-poor USA, the war king!!!
“Iran, Saudi Arabia Will Normalize Ties Under Agreement Brokered by China”
China has scored a major diplomatic win which is unprecedented. Given the friction between Saudi Arabs and Iranian Persians as well as cultural and religious differences this is amazing.
Look for Saudi Arabia to start buying Russian and Chinese military hardware like the Russian S400 SAM system among many items.
Looks like the Saudi disdain for Joey Biden is coming home to roost. The Saudi government is tired of being lectured to and threatened with sanctions by the US. Perhaps that is why Saudi Arabia is also trying to join the BRICS nations.
He spelled “Israeli” wrong.
Lots of unknown unimportant people are enjoying the opportunities for facetimes on BBC TV thanks to scoring of the diplomatic victories by China ,Sy Hersh ,and thanks to the continued face loss of Zelensky- Biden- Poland’s tinpot .They are talking about Linekar ,rendezvous of UK US and Australia at leadership level .
Meet The Press shows Bob Menendez the compromised anti -Iran anti JCPO guy talking about Mexico cartel ( he was given an opportunity of grandstanding and for sounding war-ready against Mexico leftist leader [ by the way he is doing good job quietly ] by the equally pathetic host ) and the bank failure. Bob is chairman of Foreign Relation .
CNN Fox aren’t any better .
Now one knows why Americans don’t know historical facts when they are not even given vital information on international issues of US concerns when the information doesn’t follow the script of Menendez seque’s ilk and media
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/03/12/699737/Iran-US–Amir-Abdollahian-prisoner-exchange-swap-JCPOA
Iran, US reach initial agreement for prisoner exchange: Amir-Abdollahian
Will wonders never cease?
Iran and the saudis are controlled zionist.