On March 10, 2023, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations following talks in China. In a joint statement, both countries communicated their desire to “resolve the disagreements between them through dialogue and diplomacy.” The agreement comes following tensions in the relationship between these two nations. Specifically, the 2016 Saudi Arabian execution of a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric met backlash as critics believed it was a means of reducing Shiite influence within Saudi Arabia, a majority Sunni kingdom. Protestors in Iran, a majority Shiite country, burned the Saudi embassy in Tehran. The embassy was closed following the protest. The agreement notably includes the re-opening of embassies and the return of ambassadors, which need to be completed within two months. Since 2016, the two countries have engaged in a proxy war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia supports the government and Iran the Houthi rebels. Similarly, at the start of the Syrian Civil War, Saudi Arabia backed the rebels while Iran supported the Bashar al-Assad government.