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introduction
How deep is the hatred of the Arabs for the Persians? Deep enough to "encounter the Persians and poisonous snakes", they would rather risk being bitten to death by poisonous snakes than kill the Persians first.
Today's Persians are mainly concentrated in Iran, while Arabs are distributed in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia being the strongest. These two countries are mortal rivals for thousands of years.
(Shai, "Beijing Reconciliation")
Because the hatred is as deep as the sea, the United States has mediated for 50 years without a result. Until March 10 this year, with China's intervention, the two countries reached a "Beijing reconciliation". What the United States has not been trying to do for 50 years, but China has done it, what is going on? Let's talk about it today.
1. They are also Muslims, but they fight in the dark
As we all know, the Middle East is basically the world of Muslims, whether it is Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, etc., all believe in Islam. They are Muslims, but they are constantly at odds, especially the two Middle Eastern powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
In fact, before 1979, when the two countries were at the same time with their backs to the West, relations were okay. But after 1979, an Islamic revolution changed Iran's life. Since then, relations between the two countries have deteriorated so sharply that even a semblance of peace has been maintained.
(Shai Location)
Let's just say that the Iran-Iraq War of 1980~1988 was obviously a showdown between Iran and Iraq, and Saudi Arabia also mixed a kick, gave money to weapons, and supported Iraq in all kinds, making Iran miserable.
Of course, Iran's strength is not weak, even if Iraq has the support of many countries, it still has not been able to completely suppress Iran. In the end, the two countries were both defeated and had to choose a truce.
At the end of the Iran-Iraq War, in July 1987, Iran and Saudi Arabia clashed fiercely. 275 Iranian pilgrims were killed in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
You know, Mecca is known as the "capital of religion", the birthplace of Muhammad, the first holy city of Islam. The Forbidden Temple in the heart of the city is not only the largest mosque in the world, but also the holiest place in Islam.
(Pilgrims at the Al-Haram Temple in Mecca)
How sacred is it? All Muslims, men and women, go to Mecca at least once in their lifetime for the Hajj, even to smash pots and sell iron, and tighten their belts.
As an Islamic Republic, Iran naturally regards Mecca as a holy place, even if this is the territory of the Arabs, it does not affect the pace of the pilgrimage of Iranian saints.
I never expected that such a sacred thing could make a big mess. 402 pilgrims died, more than half of them Iranians.
(Iran burns Saudi Arabia's embassy)
How can Iran be willing now? Even if the high-level can endure, the angry people can't bear it! Soon, a large-scale demonstration and protest broke out in Tehran, the capital of Iran, and people rushed to the Saudi Embassy in Iraq, resulting in the death of Saudi diplomats.
As the saying goes, two armies are at war, but they don't kill each other, and before they fight, our diplomats are killed in Iran, and the hatred between the two countries has escalated again. By the following year, Saudi King Fahd directly announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Iran.
(Fahd)
If diplomatic relations are severed, diplomatic relations will be severed, Iran has already seen Saudi Arabia as unfavorable, and it does not matter if diplomatic relations are severed. But Mecca is in Saudi Arabia, they can break off diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, but they cannot but go to Mecca for the Hajj.
So in 1991, the two countries reached an agreement on the pilgrimage, allowing Iranian Muslims to make the Hajj pilgrimage. Despite the resumption of diplomatic relations, the two countries remain at odds and tensions.
For example, in the 2012 Syrian war, Iran sent money and weapons to government forces, and Saudi Arabia supported Syrian opposition forces. There is also Yemen, which has also become a competition between the two countries since 2015, and the people in the territory are not happy.
In 2016, the two countries broke off diplomatic relations again, expelling each other's diplomats. Why was the diplomatic relationship severed again? The Saudis executed the prominent religious figure Nemir, and the Iranian people burned the Saudi consulate in Iraq in anger.
(Nemir)
It is estimated that some people wonder why a religious figure, or a Saudi religious figure, can cause the two countries to break off diplomatic relations? This brings us to the Shai grudge.
Second, the old enemies of the millennium - Arabs and Persians
The enmity between the two countries goes back thousands of years. At that time, Persia was powerful, Arabs were weak, and the strong bullying the weak was common for ancient times.
(Once the Persian Empire)
It wasn't until 570 AD that the Prophet Muhammad was born. His founding of Islam united the Arabs and grew stronger in the Middle East.
At the same time, the Persian Empire declined more and more severely because of years of war. The struggle between countries has always been one trade-off, especially when there are strong neighbors around.
Seeing the decline of Persia, the Arabs were hungry and immediately captured Persia and established the Arab Empire. As for the surviving Persians? Most of them were concentrated in the area of Iran, and became slaves and second-class people.
(Arab Empire)
In this case, you say that the Persians can not hate? What is even more hateful is that they died in a group of "barbarians" who had no civilization and no political system.
This is the same as the original Great Song, such a prosperous and brilliant existence, but was destroyed by nomads. Moreover, their culture, political system, etc., were fully inherited by these "barbarians".
If you think about the relationship between the Central Plains and the steppe people in ancient times, you can understand how much the Persians hated the Arabs! Unlike the mainland, the hatred of the Persians did not slowly spread over time, but more irreconcilable contradictions arose due to religious issues.
As we all know, the Middle East is basically the domain of Islam. However, the same followers of Islam are divided into two sects, Sunnis and Shiites, due to their different orthodoxy.
(Muslim)
Shiites believe that only Ali, a descendant of Muhammad, is the legitimate successor. Sunnis believe that the four caliphs are the rightful heirs.
According to us, there is a difference in faith, then it is not a big deal, do you just believe in yourself? But these people in the Middle East are not, because this is different, they are beating the head and breaking the blood, and even breaking out a large-scale war.
Sunnis are a powerful majority, making up 90 percent of the world's followers of Islam, so they always have the upper hand when fighting Shiites.
At the same time, most of the Shia believers were Persians, which is now Iran. Historical grievances and religious hatred, relations between Iran and Arab countries are getting worse and worse.
(Distribution of Shiites and Sunnis)
In the modern period, the Arabs backed Western powers such as Britain and France and established the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Kuwait, and so on. And Iran? Also relying on the West, the Pahlavi dynasty was established.
But by 1979, Iranian Shiites overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty, established the Islamic Republic, and continued to send Shia revolutionary ideas to neighboring countries.
Can Saudi Arabia not be in a hurry now? Most of the Middle East is the domain of Arabs, and the Persians want to expand and win over more believers? No, resolutely not. It is precisely because of this that since the Iranian Shiites came to power, the relationship between Sha and Iran has fallen to a freezing point, and even severed diplomatic relations twice.
(Iran and Saudi locations)
Including the severance of diplomatic relations in 2016, on the surface, it seems that it was because of the death of Nemir, a well-known Shiite sect member, but in fact? There are more complex political, international and historical factors behind it, and Nemir is only a fuse.
As two major powers in the Middle East, the tension in the Shai situation will inevitably affect the surrounding small countries. Like Yemen, Syria, etc., isn't it a competition between the two countries? This has led to an increasingly chaotic situation in the Middle East.
Third, what the United States has not been able to do for decades
The chaotic situation in the Middle East has a greater impact on the world, especially in oil. After all, Saudi Arabia was once the world's largest oil exporter, and Iran's Strait of Hormuz is the world's most important oil transportation pipeline.
(Strait of Hormuz)
Oil-producing countries in the Persian Gulf region, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, basically have to transport oil through this route. Therefore, all countries in the world hope that Shai will reconcile as soon as possible and quickly stabilize the situation.
Who in the world is best able to mediate between the two countries? Of course, the United States, the world's leader, has rich capital and strong strength, and has a particularly good relationship with Saudi Arabia. As a result, the United States was pinned on high hopes and acted as a messenger of peace to mediate between Saudi and Iraq.
I never expected that the United States had worked hard for decades, but it had not been able to shake hands between these two countries!
Now that many people are dead-hearted, what other country can do what the United States can? It seems that Shai, the thousand-year-old enemy, is going to continue to hate each other.
(Middle East War)
Of course, there is speculation not only because the United States failed to do so, but also because it did not intend to make peace between the two countries at all. There are even all kinds of muddy waters, just to make the situation in the Middle East more chaotic. After all, for them, only a chaotic Middle East is more in the interests of the United States.
Therefore, their intervention policy in the Middle East has always been "supporting one country to suppress another country, and supporting one faction to suppress the other." Supporting Saudi Arabia and suppressing Iran have led to increasingly bad relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Especially during the Trump administration, the United States even imposed maximum pressure on Iran and a comprehensive blockade, making Iran difficult at home and abroad, and President Raisi strongly protested. However, the United States did not care, and still put Iran on the sanctions list.
(Iranian President Raisi)
It is precisely because the United States continues to muddy the waters, the situation in the Middle East is becoming more and more chaotic, and the dream of reconciliation between Saudi and Iran has become an unattainable existence.
Some people have divided the difficulty of reconciliation between hostile countries, such as Japan-South Korea reconciliation is three stars, India and Pakistan are five stars, and how difficult is Shai's reconciliation? That's nine stars!
At the beginning of this year, Japan and South Korea achieved reconciliation at the government level under various pressures, but what about the people of the two countries? South Korea still regards Japan as an enemy, and has no intention of reconciliation, which shows how deep the contradictions between the two countries are.
(Reconciliation between the Korean and Japanese governments)
And Shai? The difficulty of reconciliation with nine stars will probably never be reconciled. Unless Iran "changes the sky" and changes to a pro-Western regime. Or the United States declines and becomes the second in the world, and with the mediation of the new world first, the two countries may be able to reconcile.
IV. Shayi's "Beijing Reconciliation"
I never thought that before the United States fell out of the world's first place, Shai achieved "Beijing reconciliation" on March 10 this year under the mediation of China!
(Shai Beijing Reconciliation)
As soon as this news came out, it caused an uproar around the world, why? Because the secrecy work is done so well, let alone ordinary people, even US President Biden does not know.
The "little brother" actually carried himself behind his back and reconciled with the enemy? And also reconciled in China? The United States is confused! Such a big thing, why didn't they find a clue?
So when Biden was interviewed, the whole person had not yet returned to his senses. The reporter asked him what his response was to the Shai reconciliation? Biden snapped his lips, saying, "The better relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the better for everyone..."
Israel? The reporter asked about Iran. Such a slip of the tongue, it can be seen that Biden was confused at that time, and it is estimated that he is still pondering this matter in his head!
(Biden)
What Biden didn't understand even more was that the two countries had only four days of face-to-face negotiations in Beijing. After only four days, why is Shai willing to reconcile? You know, before this, other countries assisted the two countries in mediation and negotiation, but only China reached the talks, why?
Niu Xinchun, director of the Middle East Institute at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, explained that the fundamental reason why Shai was able to reconcile was that they themselves wanted to break through the relationship.
As an intermediary, China adheres to a fair, objective and neutral attitude, and actively promotes talks and persuasion, which is also the biggest difference between us and the United States. After all, the United States has long been involved in the Middle East infighting, and the ass decides the head, how can it be just?
(Iran-Saudi reconciliation)
The mainland pursues a foreign policy of peaceful coexistence, and will not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, whether politically or militarily. Regardless of whether you have royal power or theocratic power, China seeks common ground while reserving differences and respects the systems and beliefs of all countries.
It is precisely for this reason that when the mainland mediated with Shay, it was completely in the position of a neutral. Not only in the attitude, but also in the details. For example, a triangular table is used in the negotiation venue. Regardless of the placement and equipment, even the number of people sitting on each side of the table is the same, five each in China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
(China mediates Shai)
In addition, there is another big reason why the mainland can make peace between Saudi Arabia and Iran - economic strength. In the early years, the United States was the largest benefactor in the Gulf states, controlling almost the economic lifeblood of the Arab world.
But in recent years, the United States has changed from the largest oil importer to the largest oil exporter.
And the mainland? It is not only the largest oil importer in Saudi Arabia, but also the largest buyer of liquefied natural gas in Qatar. The "gold lords" have changed, how can the Arab world continue to listen to the United States?
(Middle East War)
What's more, the United States is not authentic, and it always interferes in the internal affairs of the Middle East, making the Middle East more chaotic.
China hopes to coexist peacefully and engage in economic construction together, and compared with the two, they are naturally more willing to cooperate with China. After all, those who have experienced war have only a stronger yearning for peace.
It is clear that China is the messenger who can bring peace to the Middle East. Therefore, Shai is willing to achieve "Beijing reconciliation" with China's mediation!
Resources
Saudi Arabia and Iran shook hands and made peace, and the world praised, how did China make this historic decision? [OL].Per Jing.com, 2023-03-11
Why did Shai break off diplomatic relations before? Why is "Beijing reconciliation" so valuable? Beijing News, 2023-03-11
Phoenix Spotlight: Why did Saudi Arabia and Iran "Beijing Reconciliation"? [OL].Phoenix TV, 2023-03-14