Saudi-Iranian peace deal heralds new Great Game in W. Asia 

China mediating a major agreement between traditional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran marks a break with the past in that a significant development has occurred in West Asia without US playing any role in it. Asian Drama/Syed Nooruzzaman A fresh Great Game is on in West Asia, the world’s most volatile region. Now China, using all the resources under its control, is being approached to replace the US as a power broker since Washington DC has deprioritised West Asia owing to its full involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war. China, emerging as the most sought-after power in the region, has succeeded in mediating a major agreement, signed in Beijing, between traditional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran for the re-establishment of their snapped diplomatic relations. However, it remains to be seen if the Riyadh-Teheran deal really brings about the desired result. It is for the first time since the US dominance began in the region with the end of the 1956 Suez war that a major development has occurred in West Asia without Washington playing a role in it. Of course, China had the right credentials to play the mediator’s role it did between Saudi Arabia and Iran, looking for a detente in their relations. Beijing has friendly relations with both, one representing the Sunni Muslim camp and the other the Shia camp, and is not in the good books of Israel. China has made enormous investments in Iran which places Beijing in a position to influence Teheran’s decisions. The Saudis, having no longer as warm relations with the US as they had in the past, have been tilting towards China for some time, providing hints of planning to shift their financial resources to Chinese banks. The Saudis and the Iranians are now committed to normalising their diplomatic relations, ruptured following an attack on the Saudi Embassy premises in Teheran when Riyadh executed on January 2, 2016, a controversial Iranian cleric, ignoring international pressure to spare his life. There is now the possibility of a new dawn in Saudi-Iranian ties, leading to a relaxed atmosphere in the Middle East. True, what has happened could be possible only through a non-US mediator as Washington and Teheran have been at daggers drawn for decades. And today there could be no mediator more effective than China as it has been having friendly ties with Riyadh as well as Teheran for a long time. China, the biggest oil importer today, would obviously want to see peace and stability in the region to safeguard its own energy-related interests. China’s interests — its oil and gas imports from West Asia and huge investments in Iran — in the region would remain safe only when there is stability there.