'Sea change': Saudi prince shows new pragmatism towards Iran

 The Saudi Crown Prince once compared Iran's supreme leader to Hitler, but now he has approved a reconciliation deal intended to bring prosperity to the region.

A 29-year-old defense minister, he launched a fierce assault on Huthi rebels in neighboring Yemen but is now trying to remove Saudi forces from the conflict via back-channel talks.

As a mediator for the conflict in Ukraine, he has also sought to mend bitter rifts with regional rivals like Qatar and Turkey.

It indicates Prince Mohammed, now 37, has evolved from an erratic disruptor to a pragmatic power player.

In particular, the deal with Iran signals "a sea change in his political approach", signaling "maturity and a more realistic understanding of regional power politics", said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy.

It's too early to tell whether these de-escalation measures will succeed -- or how far they will go.

Embassies are expected to reopen by the second week of May after seven years of severed bilateral ties under the Iran deal.

More than a decade after the Gulf kingdom severed ties with President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Saudi Arabia and Syria are in talks to resume consular services.

Assad's ouster has long been a priority for Riyadh.

Riyadh's agenda is to minimize turbulence abroad so that it can focus on economic and social reforms at home.

One Saudi official said, "Our vision is a prosperous Middle East since you cannot achieve anything without your region."

The 'Vision' is under threat -

Prince Mohammed's international reputation was initially boosted by domestic reforms.

He sidelined the notorious religious police, allowed women to drive, opened cinemas, and began granting tourist visas in the formerly closed-off kingdom.

Its sovereign wealth fund invested in everything from Newcastle United to Nintendo, hinting at how he might transition the world's largest crude exporter away from fossil fuels through his "Vision 2030" reform agenda.

In the aftermath of the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate, concerns about increased repression hung over all this.

Prince Mohammed's big plans were also threatened by security threats, especially from Iran.

Attacks on Saudi oil facilities in 2019 claimed by Iran-backed Huthis underscored this point.

The Iranians denied involvement in the operation, as claimed by Riyadh and Washington.

Saudi Arabia took a more conciliatory approach after the incident, analysts and diplomats say.

Despite decades of cooperation between the two countries, Saudi officials were deeply disappointed by Trump's administration's tepid response, which undermined the oil-for-security trade-off.

Saudi diplomats in Riyadh were shocked that the Americans failed to protect them.

"Saudi officials told us we should focus on megaprojects," the diplomat said, citing NEOM, a futuristic megacity, and AlUla, a budding arts hub.

The vision will collapse if one missile hits NEOM or AlUla.

The lowering of the temperature -

Prince Mohammed has not gone it alone in making up with Iran.

Last year, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates restored full diplomatic relations with the Islamic republic.

However, the Saudi-Iranian deal is seen as more significant since the two Middle East heavyweights have often faced off in conflicts -- not just in Yemen, but also in Lebanon and Iraq.

The kingdom is pursuing a geopolitical reset that aims to improve regional security holistically, according to Eurasia Group analyst Ayham Kamel.

Keeping tensions low with Iran is a smart way to mitigate some proxy battles surrounding Saudi Arabia, according to Anna Jacobs of the International Crisis Group.

A meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries is the next step for implementing the deal, but no date has yet been set.

Earlier this week, an Iranian official claimed that King Salman, Prince Mohammed's father, had offered to invite President Ebrahim Raisi to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has not confirmed the invitation.

As concerns persist that the rapprochement remains fragile, these expected encounters will be closely watched.

To proceed with the deal, both sides must see positive signals from each other very soon, Jacobs said.