Saudi Arabia wants to become a more powerful actor in the Middle East, this time via diplomacy.

Iranian evacuees from Sudan were flown out of Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and a top Saudi military official went as far as boarding their plane back home to bid them a warm farewell. The Iranians were welcomed in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah with flowers, which were broadcast on both Iranian and Saudi state television. The diplomatic efforts are the latest in a series of moves that position Riyadh in a peacemaking role, which analysts say is a strategic pivot away from more than a decade of a confrontational and interventionist foreign policy. Saudi Arabia is seeking to assert itself more and more on the international stage through mediation and raising its diplomatic profile, and is now on a mission to revamp its global image and mend fences with former foes.