State media reports that Iran has appointed an ambassador to Saudi Arabia, completing a thaw in relations of more than seven years after the two regional adversaries broke ties.
Alireza Enayati, the new representative, was previously Iran’s ambassador to Kuwait, the foreign minister’s assistant, and the director general of Gulf affairs at the foreign ministry, according to the English-language Iran Daily.
His nomination was not immediately confirmed by the Islamic Republic’s foreign ministry.
After years of conflict, the major players in the Middle East unexpectedly reconciled on March 10 in China.
In 2016, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran after attacks on its embassies in Tehran and Mashhad during demonstrations against the murder of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr by the Saudis.
Before signing the reconciliation deal, the two governments undertook numerous rounds of talks in Oman and Iraq.
Before patching things up, they had supported opposite parties in conflict areas all throughout the Middle East for many years.
While Iran supported the Huthi rebels in Yemen who are in charge of the country’s capital Sanaa and a sizable portion of the north, Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition in support of the country’s internationally recognised government.
