London’s major Arabic international newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, reported today: “Sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Saudi Foreign Ministers Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian will meet in Beijing, the day after tomorrow [April 7], to activate the content of the agreement to resume relations that was announced last month.
“The sources pointed out that the Beijing meeting was preceded by three contacts between the Saudi foreign minister and his Iranian counterpart….
“[The source] pointed out that China’s choice of venue for the meeting between the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers ‘comes as an extension of Beijing’s positive role in reaching an agreement and facilitating communication between the two countries.’”
Their meeting is one of the steps in the tectonic shift in the wake of the March 10 Beijing meeting of China’s top diplomat Wang Yi, with Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban and Iran’s national security adviser Ali Shamkhani to restore diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as brokered by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The agreement reshapes the economic-political landscape of Southwest Asia.
Iranian news agency Tasnim reported April 4 cited a spokesman for the office of the Iranian Presidency as saying: “President Ebrahim Raisi has welcomed an invitation from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulazziz Al Saud to visit the Kingdom,” and added, “King Salman has been reciprocally invited to visit Iran.”
Meanwhile, a member of the presiding board of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Keyvan Kashefi, said on April 3, that “a joint Chamber of Commerce between Iran and Saudi Arabia will soon be launched.”
These coordinated developments are unfolding at a very swift pace.
