Riyadh/Tehran — Syria’s foreign minister met with Saudi officials Wednesday in a landmark meeting in more than a decade to discuss and resolve the abysmal war-like situation in Syria.
The Syrian minister arrived in Saudi Arabia Wednesday on the first such trip since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Analysts say this might be the first step in bringing Syria to the Arab League fold after a boycott of more than 10 years.
Syrian President is likely to attend an Arab League meeting next month hosted by Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad flew into Jeddah after an invitation from his Saudi counterpart, according to the statement from the Saudi foreign ministry.
They “held a session of talks on efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves the unity, security, and stability of Syria”, a statement said.
The foreign ministers also discussed “facilitating the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, and securing humanitarian access to the affected areas in Syria”.
Mekdad arrived two days before nine Arab countries gather in Jeddah on Friday to discuss allowing President Bashar Al-Assad’s Syrian government to attend an Arab League summit next month.
Ministers and top officials from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — and Egypt, Iraq and Jordan have been invited, Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said earlier.
Over the past few months, there has been increasing engagement with Assad, who has been isolated since the start of the Syrian war in 2011.
Assad has visited the UAE and Oman this year and last month Saudi Arabia said it has started talks with Damascus about resuming consular services.
Iranian delegation in Saudi Arabia
An Iranian delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Tehran said, to pave the way for reopening diplomatic missions as the Gulf rivals prepare to normalize relations, seven years after an acrimonious split.
The announcement came just days after a Saudi delegation made a similar visit to Iran’s capital, following a historic meeting in China between the two governments’ foreign ministers who vowed to bring stability to the turbulent region.
“In accordance with the implementation of the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia on the resumption of diplomatic activities… the Iranian technical delegation arrived in Riyadh at midday Wednesday and was welcomed by Saudi officials,” said Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.
“The Iranian delegation will take the necessary steps to reopen the embassy in Riyadh and the consulate general in Jeddah as well as the activities of Iran’s permanent representative in the (Jeddah-based) Organization of Islamic Cooperation,” he said in a statement.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has been invited to Saudi Arabia, according to Tehran, in what would be the first visit of its kind since Mohammad Khatami made the trip in 1999.
The flurry of diplomatic activity follows last month’s landmark, Chinese-brokered announcement that Iran and Saudi Arabia, who have backed opposing sides in conflicts around the Middle East, would work towards resuming ties.
Riyadh broke off relations in 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions following the execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr — one in a series of flashpoints between the long-time foes.
Since the March 10 announcement, the two countries’ foreign ministers have met in China and a Saudi technical delegation met Iran’s chief of protocol in Tehran last week, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The Saudi delegation, which arrived in Tehran on Saturday, is due to fly on to Iran’s second city Mashhad on Thursday, Kanani said.
Yemen truce talks
As the contacts grow, Saudi Arabia is also negotiating with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, eight years after launching a military intervention aimed at dislodging them from power in its impoverished neighbor.
Saudi ambassador Mohammed Al-Jaber traveled to Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-held capital, this week hoping to “stabilize” a lapsed truce and work towards a “comprehensive political solution” between the Houthis and the ousted government.
Saudi Arabia gathered a multinational coalition to fight the Houthis in 2015, after the rebels took control of Sanaa and large swathes of the country, forcing the government to flee.
It has become a major battleground of Riyadh’s proxy wars with Tehran, which also include conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
Analysts say Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, now wants to exit the eight-year war to focus on domestic projects aimed at diversifying its energy-dependent economy.
Washington has cautiously welcomed the rapprochement between the Saudis and US adversary Iran despite the role of China, which it sees as its biggest global challenger.