How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests
Foreign PolicyMar 14, 2023
The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that ministry officials will travel to Saudi Arabia this week to prepare for the reopening of the Iranian diplomatic missions in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
According to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Enayati, two separate delegations will visit Saudi Arabia to arrange the reopening of Iran’s embassy in Riyadh and its consulate in Jeddah.
The Saudi-Iranian diplomatic overtures are not necessarily bad news for Washington, as greater regional security also serves US interests. Yet Washington should also seize the opportunity to focus on promoting political pluralism and human rights in the region to achieve lasting peace. Moreover, to effectively contain the authoritarian PRC regime's growing regional influence, Washington must defend its interests and liberal values there with like-minded allies.
That Saudi Arabia and Iran are about to reopen their embassies signifies that China's efforts to bring peace to the region are bearing fruit. That the US pretends to welcome any development that benefits peace shows Washington has instigated regional conflicts to profit from chaos. The recent developments in the Middle East are the latest expression of the fact that Global South countries are finally fed up with Washington's hypocrisy and the export of its so-called "values."
There is a 55% chance, that Saudi Arabia will normalize its relations with Israel by 2031 if Iran obtains a nuclear bomb by then, according to the Metaculus prediction community.