Iran and Saudi Arabia restore relations

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by blankall

This is actually fantastic news if true and could save the lives of hundreds of thousands....although a country promising to halt shipments they never acknowledged making comes with its own set of issues.

Per my previous post no, not hundreds of thousands, more like hundreds or small thousands in the current paradigm and if you include starvation, etc.

Regardless it is good for Yemen but absolutely proof will be in the actions and not words.

The government and Houthis have also just agreed on prisoner exchanges for both sides last week and this week. They now need the Houthis to agree to lift their threat to attack oil export terminals and reinstall the truce.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I mean, it's kind of interesting as a speculative idea, but unless there's something substantial grounding it I don't see how anyone could take it seriously as more than a fringe conspiracy theory, and a conspiracy theory that's maybe working in some 'ethnic replacement' kind of tropes that are always worth being careful around.

And Chinese military spending seems to be geared mostly towards its Navy and aerospace forces, with new full sized carriers, powerful destroyers and numerous frigates and stealth fighters and drones. That suggests that preventing any chance of Taiwan independence and securing the seas around it are the #1 priority for China.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

https://twitter.com/user/status/1636313903985577984

Amazing news. Awesome for the Yemeni people.

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I agree, but I do kind of love the Americans ending up with egg on their faces about the whole thing. They just lost a major chunk of influence in the region.

Yes, because what's good for China is good for Victoria, BC.

[activeStick]

More good news on this front today, which hopefully can lead to some lasting peace between the two countries. Less conflict is always a good thing.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1643865178524770305

[Mr.Coffee]

LOTS of rumours that the government of Yemen and the Houthis are about to renew a 6 month truce extension. None of the rumours confirmed though.

Also rumours that Yemen's new presidential council (which is made up of leaders of each of the tribes around the country and was installed by basically Saudi Arabia) is revamping its procedures / communication "rules" and might even add a Houthi representative to it. This would be huge for diplomacy and might even lead to ending the war.

As an aside, this guy, Hans Grundberg from Sweden, has been incredible for the country and might I say if he is successful in helping Yemen finally establish an end to the war deserves a Nobel Peace prize:

https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/profiles/hans-grundberg

[Fuzzy14]

This is all smiles for the parties involved, but given the history, I don't see this lasting long.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy14

This is all smiles for the parties involved, but given the history, I don't see this lasting long.

They aren't signing a military alliance or something. They are just normalizing relations.

You should have normalized relations even with enemy countries.

[activeStick]

With normalized relations now, Iran, Saudi Arabia, along with a number of other countries are forming a naval alliance for security in their region.

"The countries of the region have today realized that only cooperation with each other brings security to the area," Iran's navy commander Shahram Irani was quoted as saying.

In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran ended seven years of hostility under a China-mediated deal, stressing the need for regional stability and economic cooperation.

Naval commander Irani said the states that will take part in the alliance also include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Pakistan, and India.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle...ty-2023-06-03/

[JD]

Security from what then? If they're all buddies now, who do they need to protect themselves from within the Gulf? Probably those pesky Omanis. They're conspicuously missing from this alliance....

[blankall]

Originally Posted by JD

Security from what then? If they're all buddies now, who do they need to protect themselves from within the Gulf? Probably those pesky Omanis. They're conspicuously missing from this alliance....

Pirate are the biggest threat in the region.

More importantly, it will force the USA Navy out of the region. The USA is enforcing sanctions against Iran and habitually redirects Iranian ships violating those sanctions.

The Saudi/USA relations are 100% commercial. With the USA not importing much Saudi oil anymore, the relationship will naturally peter out and the Saudis will look to other nations (Ex. China) to make up for the loss of exports. Nations like China won't want the USA's Navy calling the shots on whether their shipments get through.