Middle East arch rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia on April 6 in Beijing held official talks for the first time since they broke off diplomatic relations in 2016.

Video footage showed Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud being encouraged to shake hands by their Chinese counterpart.

A joint statement followed. Tehran and Riyadh said the foreign ministers discussed reopening diplomatic missions within two months and resuming flights between their two countries, which face each other across the Persian Gulf.

Iran and Saudi Arabia surprised many geopolitical analysts when they last month struck an agreement to restore diplomatic relations in negotiations brokered by China. Analysts will now watch to see whether Chinese influence in the Middle East can end the US’ dominant role in the region. Beijing has close diplomatic and economic ties with both Tehran and Riyadh. US-Saudi relations, meanwhile, have been tense in recent years, while the US has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since they were broken off in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that drove out the US-backed Shah.

Amir-Abdollahian and Prince Faisal spoke of reviving ties with an approach that "expands mutual trust and the fields of co-operation and helps create security, stability and prosperity".

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi lately accepted an invitation from King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to visit Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, which regards itself as the top Sunni Muslim power, and Iran, the pre-eminent Shia Muslim country, have been locked in a struggle for regional dominance for decades.

 dropped relations with Iran seven years ago after crowds invaded its embassy in Tehran in response to Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.

Eight years ago, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman committed Saudi Arabia to a role in the war in Yemen, fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. But the war has not gone particularly well for the Saudis. Iran, an ever-strengthening military power, has backed the Houthi movement with smuggled weapons. The Houthis have even managed to mount several missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities and oil infrastructure. At the same time, the US’s efforts in equipping the Saudis so that they can better defend themselves and move on to the front foot in the conflict have been patchy.

Another setback for the Saudis came in 2019, when a missile and drone strike on major Saudi oil installations took place. The main suspect for that attack remains Iran.

Despite the so-called strategic alliance with Washington, the Saudis have gone ahead with oil production cuts that have strained relations with the Biden administration as they could mean higher gasoline costs for the US motorist.

Despite continuing tensions over regional crises such as the unstable situations in Lebanon and Iraq, the Saudis are more and more treading their own path, exploiting the options offered by the pursuit of a multi-polar world, regardless of US wishes.

This week it was confirmed that Saudi Arabia, like Iran, is intent on sealing membership of the Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defence organisation, which includes Russia, India and four of the five Central Asian ‘stans’ (the non-member is Turkmenistan) among its members.