Saudi-Iran Deal Was Secured Due to Personal Intervention From China’s Xi: Senior Chinese Diplomat

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (R) shakes hands with Saudi's national security adviser, Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban (L), as Wang Yi, China's most senior diplomat, looks on. Luo Xiaoguang/AP Photo

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping reportedly played an active role in persuading the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Iran to resolve diplomatic relations.

According to a high-ranking Chinese diplomat, Xi took the initiative to broker the deal between the two Middle Eastern countries.

Hong Kong-based media South China Morning Post reported on April 30 that Wang Di, the director of the Chinese foreign ministry’s Department of West Asian and North African Affairs, indicated in an interview with CCP mouthpiece People’s Daily that China was prepared to act as a significant mediator in the region.

Wang made a veiled criticism of certain major nations outside the region, suggesting that their pursuit of self-interest has led to persistent instability in the Middle East. However, he refrained from explicitly naming the United States as one of these countries.

In 2016, Riyadh severed its diplomatic ties with Tehran in the wake of Iranian protesters attacking Saudi diplomatic missions following the execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. This event was one of many flashpoints between the two historic adversaries.

In early April, the top diplomats of Saudi Arabia and Iran visited Beijing to conclude an agreement to reopen their embassies, resume direct flights between the two nations, and reinstate security and trade agreements. This development highlights the Chinese regime’s growing global influence and its aspirations to be more than a regional power.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest oil producer, boasts a daily production capacity of 10 million to 12 million barrels of oil. Additionally, the country is home to over 26 billion barrels of oil, making it the world’s second-largest owner of oil reserves. These numbers reflect the country’s significant role in global oil markets and underscore its importance as a critical player in the energy industry.

With a daily purchase of more than 10 million barrels of oil, China is the world’s largest oil importer and the main oil buyer from Iran and Saudi Arabia. As a result, it stands to gain the most from stability in the Middle East energy market.

China’s good relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia have helped it bring the two countries to an agreement on resuming their diplomatic ties. This agreement has cleared the way for Beijing to expand its diplomacy in the Middle East and take on a leading role in resolving other regional tensions, such as in Yemen and Syria.

Aryeh Lightstone, former special envoy for the Abraham Accords and senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador to Israel, told “China in Focus” on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times, that “Between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and their relationship with Russia right now, China has a very strong hold on energy supply for the near and not so near future … and because China put themselves in a power position with Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, China is guaranteeing itself the ability to fuel literally its future expansion while putting themselves in a position to cut off their challengers or enemies, even like the United States of America, from being able to have the fuel and the energy that we may need.”

The CCP Is ‘Not Reliable’

Critics of the Islamic Republic, both inside and outside of Iran, believe the Chinese regime lacks transparency in its dealings with Iran and is intervening in this matter. They also argue that Beijing’s ambiguous agreements with the Islamic Republic are unreliable, stating that diplomatic and economic relations with China are untrustworthy.

During an interview with the Persian language edition of The Epoch Times, Bijan Kian, a former political figure and Iranian-American businessman, shared his views on the CCP, stating that “all six resolutions against [the] Islamic Republic were confirmed by China, communist China. So it’s not reasonable to assume that China is going to abide by its statements or its actions are in the best interest of Iranian people, or even the Islamic Republic.”

Referring to the confidential aspects of the 25-year strategic agreement between China and Iran, Kian said: “I think the Chinese Communist Party knows, and the Islamic Republic knows that this is just a short-term theater for whatever gains China gives to Saudi Arabia … but as far as [the] reliability of [the] Communist Party’s sincerity, I think that answer is embedded in the question. [When] was the last time that the Communist Party had sincerity, or fairness, or anything like that? … No, they’re not reliable.”