China’s Growing Influence in the Middle East Politics: The Shifting Saudi-Iran Rivalry to Rapprochement

Abstract

This article inspects the recent Riyadh-Tehran rapprochement and investigates the intermediating part being played by China in the Reconciliation deal.  The theoretical framework of Neoclassical Realism (NCR) has been employed to gauge the knotty dynamics of Riyadh-Tehran relationship. The regional and international factors are being considered in this article. The research considers the historical approach of their tense relationships triggered by geostrategic, geopolitical motivations and ever soaring proxies in the smaller Middle Eastern states. Beijing's preoccupation in brokering the Riyadh-Tehran rapprochement underscores its security and strategic benefits in the Middle East. Beijing is consolidating its soft power and use of economic leverage to safeguard and enhance its diplomatic objectives in the region. This paper also aims to explore the actions and motivations of Riyadh and Tehran in shifting their decade’s long rivalry to the reconciliation route. Moreover, this research deduces that the Riyadh-Tehran reconciliation and Beijing's intermediation is a sign of impending cooperation between two regional giants. It further shows the resolution of the major conflicts in the Middle East, the associated wider stabilizing factor in the region.