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Prepared by: A. Nashwa Nashat – Executive Director of the Saif Bin Hilal Center for Energy Science Studies and Research.

Abstract:
After continued tension in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and a rift that continued for more than 7 years, from 2016 until March 2023, there was a tangible improvement in relations between the two countries. In March 2023, Al-Rai agreed Tehran and Tehran agreed to end their diplomatic dispute, reopen embassies and consulates in the two countries, and restore relations. Diplomacy was officially concluded between them, and this agreement came through Chinese mediation.

It is worth noting that the Chinese mediation was preceded by Iraqi and Omani mediation between Tehran and Riyadh in the years 2019 and 2022. The foreign ministers of the two countries met on the sidelines of the Baghdad Conference, its second session in Jordan.

In the first real test of the Saudi-Iranian reconciliation, the Saudi-Kuwaiti dispute on the one hand and the Iranian one on the other came about over the issue of the Durra natural gas field, which is located in the territorial waters between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. To raise a main question: To what extent does the dispute affect the recent Saudi-Iranian reconciliation or rapprochement? This is in contrast to other subsidiary questions, such as: What are Tehran’s reasons behind reopening the Dorra field file, especially since the Arab-Iranian dispute over it dates back to the 1960s, and why at this particular time?