Live Update arrow right icon From the Liveblog of Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Iran reopens long-shut Saudi embassy in Riyadh after seven-year closure

By AFP 6 June 2023, 7:41 pm Edit
In this picture released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, right, meets with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Beijing, April 6, 2023. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
In this picture released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, right, meets with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Beijing, April 6, 2023. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)

Iran reopens its embassy in Saudi Arabia after a seven-year closure, reaffirming a Chinese-brokered rapprochement that has redrawn the region’s diplomatic map.

The Iranian mission resumes in its former premises in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter — near Syria’s embassy, which is also expected to reopen soon following Saudi outreach to Damascus.

“We consider today an important day in the relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Bigdeli tells a flag-raising ceremony. “The cooperation between the countries is entering a new era.”

The reopening coincides with a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Saudi Arabia, which comes as the oil-rich kingdom has been forging closer relations with Washington’s rivals.

Blinken is expected to meet the Saudi de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah during his visit, and potential normalization with Israel is slated to be on the agenda.

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