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On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler made a striking call for Israel to respect Iran’s sovereignty, urging the nation to avoid any aggression on Iranian soil. This statement underscores the growing thaw in relations between the traditionally hostile Middle Eastern powers, a sign of shifting alliances in the region.
At a gathering of Arab and Muslim leaders, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged the world to hold Israel to account, insisting that Israel must respect the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran and refrain from violating its lands. His comments reflect the changing dynamics in Saudi Arabia’s approach to regional relations.
Saudi Arabia, home to a Sunni Muslim majority, and Iran, a Shiite-majority country, have repeatedly found themselves at odds in various regional conflicts, including the protracted war in Syria, where their competing interests have deepened sectarian divides.
After Huthi rebels, supported by Iran, took control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and pushed towards Aden, Saudi Arabia acted decisively in 2015 by assembling a military coalition to defend the internationally recognized government, further entrenching the geopolitical divide in the region.
In the following year, diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran came to a sharp halt after Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr sparked widespread protests in Iran. These protests escalated into violent attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions, leading to the severing of ties between the two nations.
In March 2023, however, they announced a rapprochement deal brokered by China.
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Though issues remain in the complex relationship, the rapprochement amounts to a signature diplomatic achievement for Prince Mohammed, who has taken a more conciliatory approach to regional diplomacy in recent years.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have maintained high-level contact as part of efforts to contain the war that broke out in Gaza following Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year.
This diplomatic outreach led to the first phone call between Prince Mohammed and Iran’s then-president Ebrahim Raisi — just five days after the war broke out — and a visit by Raisi to Riyadh a year ago for a joint summit of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
In October, Saudi Arabia announced it had held war games with Iran and other countries in the Sea of Oman.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s top military official, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials.
Prince Mohammed and Iran’s current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, spoke by phone on Sunday ahead of Monday’s summit, which is a follow-up to the gathering in November 2023.
Pezeshkian is not attending because of pressing “executive matters”, an Iranian government statement said, and First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref travelled to Riyadh instead.
