Foreign Minister Wang Yi has recently spoken with senior Saudi and Iranian officials in the first meeting of a committee to support relations between the two countries. About the US, Saudia’s ally and Iran’s rival, the Chinese government calls on the Middle Eastern countries to ‘eliminate external interference’. Also going on to say “The Middle East can no longer become a geopolitical arena for the global powers, and the fate of the Middle East should be in the hands of the peoples of the countries of the region. Therefore the Chinese government has pushed the idea reopening of the two countries’ embassies and mutual visits by their foreign ministers. Additionally, the two countries exchanged ambassadors in September and have both officially invited each other’s leaders to visit, with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi having accepted an invitation from Saudi Arabia. The main objective of these visits is to create comprehensive good-neighborly friendship between the two countries, along with potential military and economic ties.
I believe it is very ironic how the Chinese government believes that the Middle East should no longer be a geopolitical area for global powers, but the main motive for pushing the countries together is to eliminate US influence from the region. Because China already has the US poking around and meddling near its county, in the form of South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines I believe it is in China’s national interest to want the US out. I also believe The agreement brokered by China was widely seen as a sign of its ambition to influence the region beyond economics, and I’m sure both the Saudi and Iranian governments are aware of that.
In class, we have discussed numerous times the concept of history and how that plays a role in shaping countries’ foreign policy. For example, Russia has been invaded time and time again, and because of that, their government has developed an offensive foreign policy. History can also be applied to why countries interact in the way they do. Iran and Saudi Arabia historically have not maintained the best relations. These tensions can be traced back to various historical factors such as different interpretations of Islam (Sunni or Shia), competition for regional influence, and now geopolitical rivalries. The differences have also fueled proxy wars in neighboring countries such as Syria and Iraq creating instability throughout the region. Considering all of this I believe it will be a long and difficult road for Saudi Arabia and Iran to be on good terms.