Washington: According to the Wall Street Journal, after the kingdom agreed to a normalisation deal with Iran mediated by China, CIA Director William Burns reportedly told Saudi officials that the United States was surprised.
Burns "expressed frustration" with Riyadh during a surprise trip to Saudi Arabia this week and claimed that Washington "felt blindsided" by its rekindled diplomatic relations with both Iran and Syria, according to numerous unnamed sources who spoke to the Journal on Thursday.
On Thursday, the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in the Chinese capital to discuss a range of topics related to the new initiative, including reopening embassies in both nations, choosing ambassadors, and even the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi's visit to Riyadh.
Following covert negotiations facilitated by Beijing on March 10, Tehran and Riyadh, longtime regional rivals, agreed to resume formal diplomatic ties after cutting ties in 2016. The agreement came after years of conflict. A significant shift in Middle Eastern geopolitics and a significant diplomatic victory for China were both brought about by the agreement.
Top diplomats from Saudi Arabia and Iran have spoken on the phone at least three times since the agreement was announced and are attempting to work out compromises on a number of unresolved issues, including the Yemen war, which has been raging for more than eight years and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
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Another Gulf monarchy that has long been at odds with the Islamic Republic is the United Arab Emirates, with which Tehran is attempting to rekindle relations. For the first time in nearly a decade, an ambassador has been named to Abu Dhabi, according to Ali Bagheri, Iran's deputy foreign minister. According to Reuters, Riyadh is reportedly attempting to reach a similar understanding with Syria and plans to invite President Bashar al-Assad to visit later this year.
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Although the White House has publicly praised the new diplomacy, Burns' reported complaints to Saudi officials this week may raise questions about Beijing's expanding regional influence. Since Saudi Arabia and other major oil exporters in OPEC+ decided to cut production last year, tensions between Riyadh and Washington have also risen. President Joe Biden is said to have been "angry" about the decision and stated that Russia, another significant energy exporter, would gain from it.
