• Both countries committed to a non-aggression agreement, including refraining from supporting attacks waged by third parties
• Both countries agreed to support the ongoing truce in Yemen, and revive previously signed bilateral agreements including a security cooperation pact signed in 2001

Arab News

A Saudi source with knowledge of the details of the Chinese led negotiations between the Kingdom and Iran has confirmed that the agreement between the two countries was a continuation of previous rounds of talks which started in Iraq in 2021.

As for the Chinese involvement, the source revealed President Xi Jinping expressed an interest in China being the bridge to help resolve the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, during his visit to Riyadh last December – an initiative which was welcomed by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

The Saudi source said last Friday’s breakthrough took five days of intense negotiations in Beijing – which continued “night and day” covering three main pillars. The first pillar was a respect of sovereignty of regional countries. Second, the restoration of diplomatic ties within the next two months, which gives both countries time to review and finalise details, and also work on the logistics of resending diplomats. 

The third was the revival of previously agreed bilateral treaties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, including a 2001 security agreement, which was signed at the time by the late Saudi interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz and his counterpart at the time, Hassan Rohani. 

(Developing story) …