Iran-Saudi Détente- MES EP.202

It is only natural that the reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia has taken great momentum in all circles and on many levels.

That is not only because the ice has melted between the two arch-rivals, but also because the reconciliation came cooked on a rising diplomatic power represented in Beijing, the mediator who succeeded in bringing the two rivals together, after years of Balanced economic partnership between China on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and Iran on the other.

Aristotle famously said that nature abhors a vacuum suggesting that empty spaces tend to be filled by whatever is available. That idea may not be that irrelevant to contemporary global politics. The recent patch-up between Iran and Saudi Arabia, brokered by China, has taken western observers of International Relations by surprise.

However, there are two sides to the agreement that are particularly perplexing. First, why has the US left space open for political maneuvering in the region? Second, what are the underlying factors that propelled China to take up the role of the regional mediator?