China Plans to Host GCC-Iran Summit in Beijing

The summit would be held in Beijing later this year, after Iran and Saudi Arabia have completed the process of re-establishing diplomatic relations, according to the US-based outlet, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the plan on Sunday.

In December, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia and reportedly pitched the summit to GCC leaders. When Xi met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Beijing last month, he attempted to contain the fallout from a joint statement he signed with Arab leaders that called into question Iran's possession of three disputed islands, as well as Tehran's regional influence and nuclear and military programmes.

Raisi reportedly appreciated the proposal, but his administration is pursuing stronger economic ties with Beijing and expects China to play a larger role in reviving Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which the US unilaterally terminated in 2018.

If China is successful in bringing the GCC states and Iran together for dialogue, it will be another diplomatic victory for Beijing, which hosted last week's talks that resulted in a surprise agreement to end a seven-year schism between Tehran and Riyadh. The two regional rivals agreed that their foreign ministers would meet in two months to reopen diplomatic missions, and that the trilateral statement they signed with China committed them to implementing two cooperation agreements signed more than two decades ago.

Iran's foreign ministry has announced that embassies that were closed in 2016 will be reopened in Tehran and Riyadh, as well as consulate generals in Mashhad and Jeddah. According to the WSJ, Saudi Arabia agreed to limit negative coverage by Iran International, a Persian-language television channel that Tehran believes is funded by the Saudi state and is a "terrorist" organisation.

Iran International, which has multiple times rejected the allegations of Saudi funding through its parent company Volant Media, last month moved its offices from London to Washington, DC citing threats to its staff. Meanwhile, Tehran is said to have agreed to stop encouraging cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Houthi movement, which it backs in Yemen's war against a Saudi-led coalition that endorses the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

Experts have warned that, while rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh is a positive move that could help reduce tensions across the region, building on it could be difficult given the regional powerhouses' high level of distrust.

For now, other stakeholders across the region have greeted the détente positively, while the US - which has been completely absent from the deal - has cautiously welcomed it. The foreign ministries of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China have not commented on the specifics of the Beijing agreement or the WSJ report.