Saudi Arabia Appoints First Ambassador to Syria in Over a Decade

Saudi Arabia has appointed Faisal al-Mujfel as its first ambassador to Syria in 12 years, marking a significant improvement in bilateral relations since Syria’s readmission to the Arab League.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on al-Mujfel’s ambassadorship, the first since 2012. This appointment follows over a year after Syria was readmitted to the Arab League.

In March 2012, Saudi Arabia shut down its embassy in Damascus, roughly a year after the onset of pro-democracy protests that were suppressed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Saudi Arabia and Syria take next steps towards normalization

Last month, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Syria, following a visit to the kingdom by his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, just days earlier. Now, the appointment of a new ambassador to Syria by Saudi Arabia signals an important shift to the normalization of relations between the two countries.

The outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 resulted in the diplomatic isolation of the Assad regime, with the Syrian state largely being regarded as a pariah by its neighbors and much of the wider international community. Saudi Arabia was one of the many states to cut ties with Syria at the time.

However, in recent years, neighboring states in the region have begun to normalize relations with Syria, perhaps having concluded that the Assad government is relatively secure in its position having weathered the worst of the civil war.

Last year, Syria took another major step towards achieving regional reintegration and rapprochement with its neighbors when the Arab League voted to reinstate its membership which had been suspended for over eleven years.

Changing regional dynamics?

When viewed as part of a broader regional landscape, Assad’s resurgence carries greater significance. His reintegration into the Arab community signifies the continuing formation of a new regional security framework.

Writing last year for Brookings, Steven Heydemann, the Senior Advisor for Middle East Initiatives, said “Syria’s normalization is an additional step toward the de-escalation of intractable regional conflicts.”

“In moving toward constructive engagement, regional actors have seemingly elevated pragmatism and realism over the geopolitical and sectarian cleavages that have divided them for decades,” Heydemann continued.

Of course, the present geopolitical situation in the Middle East is immensely fragile and unpredictable amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the recent tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and Iran. Nevertheless, for Assad’s Syrian government, there is a window of opportunity to improve its bilateral relations with other state actors in the region.