Iranian minister in Saudi Arabia to push piecemeal reconciliation

A correspondent in Tehran

May 12, 2023

A man in Tehran holds a local newspaper reporting on its front page the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties. — A man in Tehran holds a local newspaper reporting on its front page the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March 11, 2023. Riyadh and Tehran announced on March 10 that after seven years of severed ties, they would reopen embassies and missions within two months and implement security and economic cooperation agreements signed more than 20 years ago. — ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Iran's Finance Minister Ehsan Khandouzi landed in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Thursday, two months into a Chinese-brokered deal that ended a seven-year hiatus in Tehran-Riyadh relations.

According to the state-run IRNA news agency, the minister will discuss bilateral trade while also delivering speeches at a summit of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah.

As the first Iranian official to visit Saudi Arabia after the recent thaw, Khandouzi had earlier spoken of his plans to push for a joint Iran-Saudi Arabia chamber of commerce and an ambitious $1 billion target in annual bilateral trade.

Under the surprise rapprochement signed March 10, the two regional heavyweights agreed to reopen embassies in their respective countries within two months, a timeframe that appears to have been already missed.