Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to end their seven-year rift and restore diplomatic ties as part of a Chinese-mediated deal aimed at reducing tensions in the oil-rich region.
The agreement, reached on Friday following a meeting in Beijing, will lead to the reopening of the countries’ diplomatic missions within two months as well as the activation of security co-operations, they said in a joint statement.
Saudi Arabia and Iran ended ties in 2016 after Iranian protesters angered by the execution of a Shia cleric stormed the kingdom’s mission. Three years later, Saudi Arabia and western countries accused Iran of engineering a drone attack on a Saudi oil facility that temporarily knocked out half of its production.