Top Iran official Ali Shamkhani (R) with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi (C) and Saudi official, Beijing, China, March 10, 2023
UPDATE, APR 6:
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud have met in Beijing.
In a joint statement, the two Foreign Ministers agreed to the reopening of embassies in Tehran and Riyadh and consulates in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah and Iran’s Mashhad in the “agreed time”. Technical teams will examine expansion of cooperation, including the resumption of flights and travel visas.
Each Foreign Minister invited the other to bilateral meetings in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
#Iran and #SaudiArabia FMs sign a joint statement in the presence of #China FM. pic.twitter.com/HvyJ50IFVU
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) April 6, 2023
ORIGINAL ENTRY, MARCH 10: Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore diplomatic relations that were broken in early 2016.
Embassies will be reopened in Tehran and Riyadh within two months. The countries agreed to respect state sovereignty and not interfere in each other’s internal affairs. A security cooperation agreement from 2001 will be reactivated.
The accord was announced in talks in Beijing, brokered by China’s top diplomat Wang Yi.. Iran is represented by Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the National Security Council.
#Iran & #SaudiArabia have agreed to resume bilateral ties within 2 months, & FMs will meet to prepare for the exchange of ambassadors, said a tripartite statement of Iran-Saudi Arabia-China following days of negotiations between SNSC secretary & his Saudi counterpart in Beijing. https://t.co/bbozZoUO6A pic.twitter.com/llZHthjmFE
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) March 10, 2023
Iran and Saudi Arabia have been long-standing rivals in the Middle East. Tensions worsened in September 2015 when 464 Iranians were among more than 2,000 killed in a stampede in Mecca, and two months later with the Saudi execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Days later, a crowd attacked and set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, prompting Riyadh to break relations.
“The countries agreed to respect state sovereignty and not interfere in each other’s internal affairs. A security cooperation agreement from 2001 will be reactivated….”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog
iri will not be iri without the thuggery.
Raisi promised to improve relations with regional countries. That is a huge achievement for his adminstration. Previous governments focused on relations with the West, with Latin America, Russia and Africa but less so with US allies in the region. The rial is rising right now: https://www.bonbast.com/
This comes as Iran restored relations with the UAE last year and there is a pending prisoner exchange planned with Belgium and possibly the United States also.
Excellent! The next step is to “restore relations ” with people of iran by getting lost, as the have stated it for years and have been killed for in thousands.
Rial surges to less than 450,000 to the USD: https://www.bonbast.com/
Rial continues to recover: https://www.bonbast.com/
The new currency and gold exchange appears to be working.
Iran, US reach initial agreement for prisoner exchange (US denies): https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/03/12/699737/Iran-US–Amir-Abdollahian-prisoner-exchange-swap-JCPOA
““We reached an agreement in recent days on the issue of prisoner swap,” Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday, adding that if everything goes well by the American side, the exchange would take place soon………..discussions about restoring the JCPOA, however, have been at a standstill since August 2022 due to Washington’s insistence on not lifting all of the anti-Iran sanctions and offering the necessary guarantees that it will not exit the agreement again.”
[Editor’s Note: The account is in the Hezbollah outlet al-Mayadeen. Readers can judge for themselves the real reason why commenter’s offer of “expert testimony” was not accepted by defendant’s lawyers]
Update on the appeal process for Hamid Nouri: https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hamid-nouri-slams-swedish-sham-court-of-appeal-calls-it-unju
“Nouri’s son recounted the problems his father faced while trying to defend himself during his trial, including the fact that he was not able to have a lawyer of his choosing and was constantly interrupted and given much less time to defend himself against the accusations. We even had witnesses who wanted to come to the court and testify, but neither the public defenders allowed them to come nor the Swedish judicial system accepted the request….he said that the MKO faction’s propaganda offensive, which began after his father’s incarceration, scared many witnesses away from the case, revealing that “we talked to more than ten lawyers, many of whom were later threatened by the MKO.”
I should point out that I personally contacted Nouri’s old lawyers to give expert testimony, but they said the court would not allow me to do so and could not guarantee my safety in Stockholm.
[Editor’s Note: The important point from the December interview with historian Pouya Alimagham….
“Today’s uprising, while smaller at the moment, has been a continuous, daily movement — despite the government’s best attempts to violently put it down. As of now, the death toll is about four times higher than the casualty rate of the Green Movement, which was larger and longer but more sporadic.”]
More comparisons with the Green Movement of 2009 by a supporter: https://news.mit.edu/2022/qa-pouya-alimagham-protest-movement-iran-1206
“In sheer numbers, the Green Movement was far bigger. On just one day, June 15, 2009, 3 million people gathered in Tehran to protest the state — this sum does not include protests across the country on the same day. We have yet to see protests of that magnitude in the uprising today. What is markedly different between 2009 and now is the continuity of the protests today. ”
The “3 million” figure is grossly exaggerated….it was 300,000-500,000, but it shows that the WLF movement has never attracted mass support.
Two Detained Iranian Protesters Raped in Car, Group Says
https://iranwire.com/en/news/115272-two-detained-iranian-protesters-raped-in-car-group-says/
In other related news…Azerbaijan kicks out four iri diplomats from embassy in Baku accusing them of trying to kick start a coup
https://www.radiofarda.com/a/baku-says-arrested-a-group-who-plotted-to-overthrow-aliev-s-regime/32352268.html
Iran Arrest Parents, Brother Of Protester Killed By Agents
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202304057373
Iran Most Vulnerable In Middle East To Global Warming: Research
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202304058144
Someone should explain why Saudi Arabia, a far more inhospitable environment has better condition than iran…
“In Iran’s case, this number is currently 11 deaths per 100,000 people, which is five times the average of the Middle East, but it will reach 423 in the next four decades.
“This death rate would be reduced by more than 80% if global warming is limited to 2°C, [but] Iran currently has the highest heat-related death rate and will experience the greatest impacts between 2021 and 2100.”
According to the report, the Middle East is one of the most vulnerable parts of the world to global warming and climate change.
The report states that the number of annual deaths due to global warming in Iran is around 1,703 people meaning six times more than that of Saudi Arabia.”
IranWire Exclusive: Activist Hashemi Wants End To “Religious Government”
https://iranwire.com/en/politics/115276-iranwire-exclusive-activist-hashemi-wants-end-to-religious-government/
Iran is constructing a new Middle East: https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-is-constructing-a-new-middle-east/
“Iran has made a fundamental decision to lower tensions with Sunni Arab countries in order to focus on a strategy of building an anti-US axis. China’s support of Iran for renewed relations with Saudi Arabia is just a link in that chain. In a marked shift from the past, from the viewpoint of the Iranians, any positive relationship with a Sunni Muslim country serves their strategic interest, especially in light of the Abraham Accords that constricted Tehran’s efforts to widen its sphere of influence.”