China to hold GCC-Iran summit

(MANEND NEWS): China is planning to host an unprecedented summit attended by senior officials from Iran and its six Arab neighbours of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), according to the Wall Street Journal.

The summit would take place in Beijing later this year, after Iran and Saudi Arabia have completed the process of re-establishing diplomatic relations, the United States-based outlet reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Saudi Arabia in December where he reportedly pitched the summit to GCC leaders.

When Xi officially received Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Beijing last month, he tried to contain the fallout of a joint statement he had signed with the Arab leaders that called into question Iran’s ownership of three disputed islands and Tehran’s regional influence and nuclear and military programmes.

Raisi reportedly welcomed the proposal, but his administration is pursuing stronger economic ties with Beijing while expecting China to play a bigger role in deadlocked talks over restoring Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which the US unilaterally abandoned in 2018.

If China succeeds in getting the GCC states and Iran in one room for dialogue, it would signal another diplomatic victory after Beijing hosted last week’s talks that led to a surprise agreement on ending a seven-year rift between Tehran and Riyadh.

The two regional rivals agreed that their foreign ministers would meet within two months to reopen diplomatic missions and that the trilateral statement they signed with China committed them to implement two cooperation agreements they had signed over two decades earlier.

Iran’s foreign ministry has said embassies that were closed in 2016 will soon be reopened in Tehran and Riyadh, while consulate generals will be re-established in Mashhad and Jeddah.