A few weeks after officially renewing diplomatic relations, after years of apparent hostility, this past Saturday saw the first tense diplomatic incident between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The incident took place around a picture of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite “Quds Force” which among other things, controls the terror group Hezbollah and the anti-Saudi Houthi rebels in Yemen. Soleimani was eliminated by a U.S. strike under orders from President Trump. His picture was hanging in the room where a joint statement by the representatives of the two countries was supposed to take place, something that did not sit well with the Saudi diplomats given Soleimani's support for attacks on Saudi infrastructure by the Houthis and even an Iranian drone attack within Saudi Arabia a few years ago.
Following the renewal of relations between the countries, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Faisal Bin Farhan, visited Tehran on Saturday for the first time in almost 20 years. However, shortly before the start of the joint press conference between him and his Iranian counterpart, Farhan's people demanded to change the statement room because on the wall hung a picture of Soleimani, who is considered an enemy of Saudi Arabia. The Iranians agreed and changed to a nearby room.
#Saudi FM protocol refused to hold joint foreign ministers’ presser in #Iran under Qassem Soleimani’s picture. Presser was relocated. Good! https://t.co/X8dK6Y02Wh
— Hussain Abdul-Hussain (@hahussain) June 17, 2023
The reports about the reason for the change were in the Saudi media, but the Iranians for their part denied it. A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry claimed that "the room was changed due to a technical problem, contrary to all kinds of baseless media speculation." It was also reported that a Saudi embassy in Iran has not yet been opened, since the preparatory work in the Saudi embassy building in Tehran will continue until the end of 2023.
The press conference was finally held. The Saudi foreign minister said at the press conference that "These days we are working to renew the activity of the diplomatic and consular missions in both countries and soon the Saudi embassy will be opened in Tehran. I look forward to meeting President Raisi and inviting him to visit Saudi Arabia."
Iranian journalist: The Saudis refused to enter a hall with a picture of Qassem Soleimani.#Saudi #iran
— saad bin fahad (@saad_almosa0) June 17, 2023
pic.twitter.com/XIWbVDMe1G
The news of this first hiccup in the renewed Iranian-Saudi relations comes as Israel and Saudi Arabia are going to great lengths to reach a normalization agreement under American mediation. Prime Minister Netanyahu himself did not hide his hope for a deal with the Saudis. In an interview with "Sky News" last week where he referred to his expectations.
“Our hand is extended to all Arab States and certainly to Saudi Arabia which is vitally important. We have great opportunities to advance peace in our region, peace between our two countries, and the well-being of our people. I think it would change history.
The visit of the Saudi FM to Iran isn’t as seamless as the two nations would like you to believe. There was a last minute change in the location of the press conference as Saudi refused to stand where there’s a photo of Soleimani in the background: pic.twitter.com/vSad8lT50t
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) June 18, 2023
Netanyahu later added that "Obviously Saudi Arabia would be a quantum leap forward because it's the most influential Arab country not only in the Arab world I think also in the Muslim world, so it would fashion I think the possibility of ending the Arab-Israeli conflict, and I think that it would also help us solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
