After years of antagonism, Riyadh and Tehran showed indications of healing on Monday when the Saudi authorities aided Iranian refugees fleeing Sudan’s strife by removing them.
The Saudi navy carried the 65 Iranians from Port Sudan to Jeddah, from where they will go to Tehran.
The transfer, according to Nasser Kanaani, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, was “a positive event” made possible through coordination between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
In a video released on local media, senior Saudi military commander Ahmed al-Dabais urged Iranian refugees that the two countries were wonderful friends and brothers and that they should see the kingdom as their own country.
Since the outbreak of unrest in Sudan on April 15, thousands of foreign people have been evacuated, with Saudi Arabia acting as a major hub for the effort.
After protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran in response to the execution of a Shi’ite Muslim cleric, the conservative Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia severed ties with the revolutionary Shi’ite Muslim Iran in 2016. For years, the two nations had been at odds, supporting opposite sides in Middle Eastern conflicts and political battles.
However, in a March agreement brokered by China, the two major oil producers agreed to end their feud and reopen diplomatic missions.
