What Does Switzerland Have to do With Iran-Saudi Relations?

On October 25, Switzerland’s embassies in Riyadh and Tehran signed agreements to represent Iranian interests in Saudi Arabia and Saudi interests in Iran. The embassies will provide consular services for both nations in Tehran and in Jeddah. But what impact will the agreements actually have on Iranian-Saudi diplomacy and politics? To gain a full understanding of the significance, it’s important to consider a few key points.

First of all, the Saudi Interest Section will function out of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, whereas the Iranian Interest Section will be located not in the Saudi capital of Riyadh but in the port city of Jeddah. A number of Iranian diplomats will offer consular services through the Swiss Embassy, but Saudi Arabia refused to allow them to work from inside the embassy in Riyadh. 

So why has the Islamic Republic has agreed to this humiliating discrimination? It’s perhaps more important to assess the timing of the agreement. Tehran and Riyadh broke off relations in January 2016, almost two years ago. Since then Riyadh has not appeared to show any interest in restoring diplomatic relations with Iran. Not only that, Saudi also sided with the US in applying pressure to isolate Iran even further.

On the other hand, Islamic Republic officials have clearly signaled that they are interested in restoring relations with Riyadh. “We are prepared to cooperate with Islamic countries on all issues that are important to the Islamic world,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Al Mayadeen TV on September 6. “If the Saudi government is ready to turn the page, Iran is ready for that as well."

Zarif’s conciliatory comments came despite Iran’s previous sharp criticism of the way Saudi officials handled the 2015 “Mina Stampede,” when more than 2,000 pilgrims, including 464 Iranians, were trampled to death during the annual hajj pilgrimage. But this year, with a green light from Ayatollah Khamenei, about 86,500 Iranians went to the hajj pilgrimage. Afterward, Iran expressed its appreciation for Saudi’s hospitality toward the pilgrims and indicated that it was looking for other steps to improve relations between the two countries.

It is “Laughable”

But immediately after Zarif expressed Iran’s willingness and desire to improve relations, his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir dismissed his statement as “laughable” and indicated that improved relations were not in the foreseeable future. “If Iran wants to have good relations with Saudi Arabia, it has to change its policies,” said al-Jubeir. “It has to respect international law. At this time, we do not see... that they’re serious about wanting to be a good neighbor.”

Not only has there not been any flexibility in Saudi’s hard stance against Iran but Riyadh has also aligned itself with the Trump administration’s new strategy against the Islamic Republic, a point of huge irritation for Iran’s leaders. At a press conference in London, Adel al-Jubeir said the international community needed to support new sanctions and policies against the Islamic Republic “in order to send a very strong message to Iran” that its behavior and its “nefarious activities have consequences.”

Therefore, despite the fact that the Islamic Republic allowed its citizens to go on the hajj pilgrimage — Qatar boycotted it — all evidence suggests there is little hope for the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, not even at the level of chargé d’affaires, such as the one that currently exists between Tehran and London. 

But people planning to go on Mecca pilgrimages need consular services throughout the year. So the establishment of a channel to ensure these services can be provided is required. Enter Switzerland to facilitate and represent the interests of the two countries.

But now that the consular services have been taken care of, what will be the future for Iran-Saudi diplomatic relations? 

Relations between the two countries have broken down before. In 1987, a hajj pilgrimage turned bloody and more than 400 people were killed. The breakdown in relations lasted for three years. With the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Iran’s need to rebuild its economy and the death of Ayatollah Khomeini — who had declared: “even if we forgive Saddam we will not forgive the House of Saud” — the groundwork was laid for the resumption of relations when Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani became president. These relations peaked during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005). 

However, despite improvements with their Saudi neighbors, neither President Hashemi Rafsanjani nor President Khatami were able to disentangle the Gordian knot of Iran's relations with Egypt. Cairo’s first and foremost condition for renewing relations was that Iran change the name of Martyr Khalid Islambouli Street in Tehran, named after the mastermind behind the assassination of the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981. The street still bears the name and relations between the two countries have never resumed.

An Even Tougher Knot

But now it seems as if relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have become an even a tougher knot to unravel. After Iran protested against the beheading of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in January 2016 for allegedly taking up arms against Saudi forces to overthrow the government, not only did mobs attack the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, but within 12 hours, Tehran City Council changed the name of the street next to the Saudi embassy, dubbing it Martyr Ayatollah Nimr Baqer al-Nimr Street.

To understand the diplomatic consequences of such a hasty action, imagine how Tehran would react if a foreign government were to simply communicate with parties and political figures it deemed to be illegal. Now imagine a foreign government went so far as to name a street after a figure who had wanted to overthrow the Islamic Republic. There cannot be even the slightest doubt that the Islamic Republic would reject and condemn any country that appeared to be celebrating such an opposition figure and refer to him as a “martyr,” then name a street after him, and still claim that it wanted normal relations with Iran.

This is the situation that has frozen Tehran-Cairo relations for close to four decades, and it’s the same scenario that has the potential to do the same for Tehran and Riyadh. Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir has said that his government sees no difference between the terrorist Osama bin Laden and the terrorist Baqer al-Nimr.

If we assume that Riyadh has put forward a similar condition to that of Cairo, if the Islamic Republic insists on keeping the name of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr Street, relations will not resume.

On the other hand, if the Islamic Republic does change the name of the street, the move will be seen as the equivalent of defiling the blood of an individual Tehran regards as a “martyred ayatollah.” It will also be a confession, an admission that Iran was responsible for heightening tensions.

The choice of Switzerland to represent the interests of Iran and Saudi Arabia reveals just how hostile the two countries are toward one another, and how difficult it will be to ever unravel the knot of hatred between them. 

Inevitably, the best available remedy was to designate a third country to represent the countries’ respective interests — just the way relations between Iran and the United States and between Egypt and Iran have been managed for close to four decades.

Hossein Alizadeh is a former senior Iranian diplomat who now lives in Finland.