Saudi military leader's surprise Iran visit shifts Middle East power balance
Saudi Arabiaʼs top military official makes an unexpected trip to Tehran showing new direction in Middle-East relations. This meeting happens as Muslim nations prepare to discuss Israel-Gaza situation
The middle-eastern power dynamics show a big shift as Fayyad al-Ruwaili‚ Saudiʼs military chief met with Iranian military leader Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri in Tehran on nov 10th. During their meeting (which focused on defense cooperation) both countries showed interest in working together
The timing is important: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranʼs president had a phone-talk about the upcoming muslim-leaders meet. The summit will include members from two big groups; the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation:
- Countries that accept Israel
- Nations against Israelʼs regional presence
- States with mixed positions on the conflict
A similar gathering last year couldnʼt agree on Israel-related actions
The situation gets more complex as Donald Trump – who plans to start his second term as president in early-25 – wants to end the israel-hamas war. His first term saw the abraham accords which tried to bring saudi and israel closer but now thats on-hold
The relationship between saudi and iran has changed a lot since their china-helped talks last yr. This is different from before when saudi was americas friend and didnʼt like irans nuclear plans. The gaza war that started after hamas attack in oct-23 killed 1200 israelis; israels response led to over 43000 palestinian deaths (mostly regular people)
