Iran announced on Tuesday the appointment of seasoned diplomat Alireza Enayati as the country’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, making him the country's first ambassador to the kingdom in seven years.
The announcement is in line with the China-brokered Iran and Saudi Arabia's agreement last March to resume diplomatic relations between the archrivals.
Enayati is someone familiar with the Gulf region. He served as Iran's ambassador to Kuwait from 2014 to 2019. Most recently, he was director-general of the Persian Gulf Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also previously served as assistant to the foreign minister, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.
Enayati was instrumental in steering Iran's negotiations with Saudi Arabia prior to the deal. He hinted at the deal in February, when he said that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had a road map developed to expand ties with neighboring countries and achieving this was of the utmost importance for Iran’s foreign policy.
