In a surprise move, Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have announced that the two countries will restore diplomatic ties and reopen diplomatic missions after a seven-year-long detente. The announcement from the two regional rivals came after a previously undisclosed four-day-long round of discussions. But what has surprised many is the country responsible for the mediation — China.

"Following talks, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies and missions within two months," Iran's state news agency IRNA reported, according to the Associated Press.

The new turn of events, which has raised eyebrows and concerns in the US, saw the world’s second-largest economy take the role of the neutral mediator in easing tensions between the two countries.

The agreement that states that Iran and KSA will have “respect for the sovereignty of states and the non-interference in internal affairs of states” is a signal of a changing global order where countries are able to approach China, instead of the US for diplomatic rapprochement.

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Despite the fact that the US is the key military and security provider in the Middle East, countries in the region are developing economic ties with China. China’s diplomatic efforts toward the region have steadily increased as it has gradually become the world’s largest energy importer.

The country has been ramping up its investment and infrastructure in the region as well. China’s growing Middle Eastern and Gulf ambitions were highlighted when President Xi Jinping recently met with the leaders of both Iran and KSA.

“Now China is an indispensable power in the Middle East — that’s a fact,” said Tuvia Gering, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, to the Washington Post.

While China has long been close to Iran, the two countries sharing economic and diplomatic relations due to their opposition to the US, the steady movement of the KSA towards the Chinese sphere of influence is a relatively new development. Saudi Arabia has been steadily trying to reduce its dependence on the US, even though the two are key strategic partners in the Middle East.

But apart from growing its own international sphere of influence and positioning itself as an alternative great power to solve international disputes, China’s ambitions to bring stability to the region are also driven by the desire to ensure energy security by keeping imports flowing.

Better diplomatic linkages between Saudi Arabia and Iran will reduce the likelihood of regional conflict and will reduce regional tensions. That’s a good thing for China, for the US, and for regional actors as well, explained Robert Mogielnicki, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf State Institute, to Al Jazeera.

Saudi Arabia and Iran’s latest diplomatic impasse was caused after protesters in Iran torched Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran in 2016. The protests were triggered by the execution of Shiite Sheik and cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was a critic of the Saudi Arabian government and a pro-democracy activist.

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However, the relations between the Sunni majority and Shia majority countries have been tense for decades, especially since the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

While the US has been left out of the loop in the peace brokering agreement, the country maintains that the agreement is beneficial to all stakeholders in the region.

With tensions between the US and Iran being as high as ever, it is unlikely that the global superpower could have managed what its number one geopolitical rival has managed to achieve.

“We support any effort to de-escalate tensions there,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.

However, decreased tensions in the region will still be a boon for the US as it continues to navigate the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as shore up its military presence in the Indo-Pacific where China continues to increase its bellicose attitude.