China is preparing to host a summit of leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with Iran later this year in Beijing, according to Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
This comes days after Chinese mediation to resume diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The Gulf-Iranian summit in Beijing will be held after the reopening of the embassies in Riyadh and Tehran, a step that is supposed to take less than two months and is preceded by a meeting of the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran to conclude the agreement.
According to the WSJ report, the idea of an “unprecedented” Gulf-Iranian summit in Beijing was put forward by the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, when the Gulf leaders met in Riyadh in December 2022.
Xi’s diplomatic initiative shows that Beijing is carving out a central role for itself as a new power broker in the Middle East, a strategic region where the United States has been the most influential external player for decades.
China’s focus is no longer exclusively on energy flows and trade, and Beijing’s entry into the region’s politics signals a new chapter in the competition between Beijing and Washington, WSJ reported.
After seven years of strained relations, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies after a series of talks held last Friday under the supervision of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
In January 2016, Saudi Arabia severed its relations with Iran, following attacks on the Riyadh embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, in protest against the kingdom’s execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, on charges including terrorism.
