World leaders welcomed restoration of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, shortly after a surprise deal was announced on Friday.
Following days of intensive talks in Beijing, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume their diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and diplomatic missions within the next two months.
Rear Admiral Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) held intensive negotiations with Saudi National Security Advisor Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban in the Chinese capital between March 6-10 to finalize resolving the outstanding issues between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
At the end of the negotiations on March 10, 2023, a tripartite statement was issued in Beijing signed by the two officials as well as the Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party Wang Yi.
MULTIPOLAR MARCH: After Iran and Saudi Arabia agree on re-establishment of diplomatic relations, keeping aside 7 YEARS of hostility, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi says this is VICTORY for peace.
Saudi Arabia and Iran restore ties, with China’s help.
The scene of trilateral talks pic.twitter.com/I31xKqcFUt— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) March 11, 2023
The Chinese diplomat praised the agreement as “a victory for dialogue, a victory for peace, offering major good news at a time of much turbulence in the world.”
He stressed that China will continue to play a constructive role in handling hotspot issues in the world and demonstrate its responsibility as a major nation.
Regional Countries
United Arab Emirates Foreign inister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed welcomed on Saturday the agreement as an “important step towards stability and prosperity” in the region.
In separate telephone conversations with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Friday evening, the foreign ministers of Qatar and Iraq offered their congratulations on the thaw in the relations between Tehran and Riyadh.
In a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi called it a “win-win for everyone” and hoped for “increasing economic benefits for all.”
Foreign Ministries of Bahrain and Egypt also congratulated the deal, hoping it will help reduce regional tensions.
The Syrian foreign ministry announced Damascus’s appreciation of the agreement.
“This important step will lead to the strengthening of security and stability in the region and to cooperation that will reflect positively on the common interests of the peoples of the two countries in particular, and the peoples of the region in general,” a statement by the Syrian ministry read.
Hezbollah, Ansarullah Hail Move
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah hailed the move, stressing that any rapprochement between the neighboring countries serve the regional stability, noting that the deal won’t be at the expense of Yemen, Syria and the resistance.
For its part, Yemen’s Ansarullah revolutionary movement said the region needs resumption of “normal ties” between its countries.
“The region needs the resumption of normal ties between its countries for the Islamic nation to reclaim its lost security as a result of foreign, especially American-Zionist, interferences,” Spokesman Mohammad Abdulsalam tweeted.
Foreign interference, he said, has taken advantage of differences in the region and used Iranophobia to wage aggression on Yemen.
Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban
While welcoming the resumption of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan’s foreign minister emphasized that his country does not recognize ‘Israel’.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban welcomed the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia and called it an important step towards consolidating peace and stability in the region.
It also welcomed China’s efforts to host talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
UN and US
The United Nations has welcomed the deal, saying good neighborly ties between the two countries “are essential for the stability” of the region.
On behalf of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric voiced the international body’s readiness “to further advance regional dialogue and to ensure durable peace and security” in the region.
US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said Washington welcomes “any efforts to help end the war in Yemen and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region.”
“De-escalation and diplomacy together with deterrence are key pillars of the policy President (Joe) Biden outlined during his visit to the region last year,” Kirby said, noting that “it really does remain to be seen whether the Iranians are going to honor their side of the deal. This is not a regime that typically does honor its word.”
Source: Agencies
