Reuters confirmed that Saudi Arabia and the Syrian regime have agreed to reopen embassies and normalize diplomatic relations that broke off more than a decade ago.
Saudi Arabia and the Assad regime have agreed to reopen their embassies after severing diplomatic relations more than a decade ago, “a step that will represent a step forward in the regime’s return to Arab ranks,” the agency reported. “
A regional source loyal to the Syrian regime said contacts between Riyadh and the regime gained momentum following the historic agreement to restore relations between Saudi Arabia and Bashar al-Assad’s main ally, Iran.
Re-establishing relations between Riyadh and the regime will represent the most important development to date in the moves of Assad and Arab countries to normalize relations, which were rejected by many Western and Arab countries following the outbreak of the revolution in Syria in 2011.
A second regional source allied with the regime told Reuters the two governments were “prepared to reopen their embassies in the second half of April after Eid al-Fitr”.
According to a regional source and a diplomat in the Gulf, the decision came as a result of talks in Saudi Arabia with a senior intelligence official in the Syrian regime.
The sudden rupture in relations between Saudi Arabia and the Assad regime demonstrates the role that the Tehran-Riyadh deal can play in other crises in the region, as the rivalry between them has fueled conflicts, including the war in Syria.
