A New Dawn in the Middle East? How Iran and Saudi Arabia Can Reshape the Middle East
By: H. Zaïm-Bashi
The détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia signifies a tectonic shift in the Middle East creating fresh horizons for peace security and shared prosperity. These two nations formidable bastions of influence within the Islamic world each possess unique geopolitical and cultural identities that when harmonized promise unparalleled synergies for regional stability.
Despite their historical divergences--exacerbated after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution--their rapprochement reveals a potential alliance more natural and advantageous than the rivalry of years past. Saudi Arabia with its deeply entrenched tribal structures and vast oil reserves wields substantial sway in global energy markets a role that carries immense importance to major world powers particularly the United States. Iran for its part enjoys a formidable locus in the region surpassing even Saudi Arabia in certain strategic respects. Together Iran and Saudi Arabia are veritable maîtres of the Middle East endowed with the potential to shape its future.
Yet historical tensions have simmered with Riyadh’s close alignment with Washington and its tacit complicity with the Israeli regime being a primary source of discord. The illegitimate Israeli regime has time and again sought to frame Iran’s military capabilities as an aggressive menace distorting Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and regional alliances as threats to global security. This narrative allowed Israel to subtly align with certain Arab states culminating in a once-unthinkable alliance with Saudi Arabia as the latter increasingly echoed Washington’s geopolitical agenda. This shift eroded prior stigmas surrounding Arab-Israeli relations revealing the depth of the changing landscape.
But recent developments reveal a turning tide. The rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh represents not only the mending of diplomatic fractures but also the possibility of a stable cohesive security framework that could prove indispensable for the Middle East. After October 2023 and as Israeli war against Gaza and Lebanon intensified a widesprad outrage swept across the Arab street pressuring regional leaders to stand against Israeli aggression. Saudi Arabia once an ambivalent observer found itself compelled to confront these transgressions. At an emergency meeting convened in Riyadh by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation [OIC] and the Arab League Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman issued a rare yet powerful call for Israel to respect Iran’s sovereignty and refrain from assaulting its oil facilities. This declaration conveyed potent messages to Arab nations and the international community—particularly the United States and Israel—that bin Salman is no mere marionnette of Western powers but rather a sovereign leader intent on securing the Middle East’s stability.
By aligning with Iran Saudi Arabia has signaled an intention to engage meaningfully in regional security and has distanced itself from the more bellicose policies of the past. The recent conflicts in Gaza and Washington’s military moves in the Red Sea have underscored the risks associated with being tethered to American policies that frequently stoke instability in the region. For Riyadh these tensions imperil the security of critical international waterways and jeopardize its broader strategic imperatives.
Against this backdrop the geopolitical current milieu is propice for Iran-Saudi collaboration on security initiatives. Saudi Arabia’s desire for a genuine partnership with Iran demands political volonté—a commitment bin Salman’s recent speech at the Riyadh summit suggests yet which must be matched by actionable steps to fortify a bilateral security architecture. Such cooperation is no mere ceremonial gesture but reflects a vital realization that peace and prosperity in the Middle East rest on cohesion not fragmentation.
An Iran-Saudi security convergence stands to stabilize the Middle East profoundly bolstering energy security and fostering development. Iran has long advocated for an end to regional violence and its accord with Saudi Arabia may accelerate peace efforts quelling hostilities and laying the groundwork for sustainable prosperity across the widely Muslim-populated region. The Saudis’ recent overtures toward a concrete partnership with Iran signify a promising turn where the Middle East’s future rests not in external diktats but in the region’s commitment to unity sovereignty and a shared vision of prosperity.
