https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/17/iran-to-reopen-oic-representative-office-in-saudi-arabia
The two countries of Iran and Saudi Arabia are ready to reconcile their diplomatic ties, albeit tentatively, with the reopening of an Iranian embassy in Saudi Arabia. This is the prospective result of the fifth set of talks in a series of negotiations since April of 2021 looking to move past the two states’ rocky history in order to resolve many of their overlapping issues such as the prolonged war in Yemen. Up until now, the diplomatic talks had been held in Baghdad with Iraq as a mediator, however, there are currently three representatives from Iran in Saudi Arabia working to restore the Iranian embassy, another step forward in bridging the relationship between the regional adversaries. In 2016, relations between the Saudis and Iranians shattered when Saudi Arabia, a majority Sunni population, executed Nimr Baqir Al-Nimr, a well-known leader of Shia Islam and a critic of the Saudi Arabian government. In Tehran, Iran, following Al-Nimr’s beheading, mobs of angry Shiites mauraded the Saudi Arabian embassy. In Mashhad, the same thing happened to the Saudi consulate located there. All diplomatic ties were subsequently cut for the next 6 years.
As two power contenders within the Middle East and with the rift between the Sunni Islam of Saudi Arabia and the Shia Islam of Iran, I doubt that the truce, even if long-term, will lead to much more than a means of communication strictly to be used out of necessity. This reluctance to get on friendly terms is especially due to the fact that they have been in a “Cold War”. The intentions and involvement of the Saudis and Iranians in the war in Yemen, for example, can be seen as a proxy war for influence over Yemen, including religious influence. Yemenis mainly practice Sunni Islam, however, over a third of Yemen’s population practices Shia Islam, a portion of Yemenis that Iran wants to protect. As of now, the Iranians allegedly support the Houthi rebels in Yemen by smuggling them supplies including weapons and providing strategic advice, an accusation from Saudi Arabia’s own military presence in Yemen with the purpose of assisting the current government in Yemen. Iran, however, denies this, creating an interesting point of contention that will be discussed and perhaps, though unlikely, better clarified with the upcoming negotiations. It is also worth mentioning that Yemen is considered by most as a failed state, however it is still geopolitically important as the southeast coastline of Yemen sits along the Red Sea, one of the most important shipping routes in the world. Potentially, if it were to stabilize and build up its sphere of influence, it could gain partial or all control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which would be a major advantage to have over the countries that rely on trading along that trade route, and makes Yemen of international interest. Since both Iran and Saudi Arabia are important regional players that have been butting heads almost constantly, the outcome of how they will revive their relationship with each other will certainly have a greater effect on countries lower on the regional hierarchy such as Yemen, and likely how the role of Islam will continue in Central Asia and the Middle East.
This situation deals with religious influence as a form of cultural power, enough so that the people and consequently governments of Saudi Arabia and Iran can be strongly swayed by their religious differences. While many other countries consider one of their founding principles to be the separation of church and state, religion is a key part of Saudi Arabia and Iran. Specifically with Iran, their foreign policy towards other countries with Shia Islam majorities as well as their aim to obtain nuclear weapons stem from Iran’s view of itself as the ultimate protector for perpetuating Shia Islam’s place in the world.