China calls for calm between Saudi Arabia, Iran

Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi urged member countries to adopt a strong and clear common position, calling on Iran to stop all forms of interference in the affairs of Arab nations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saudi Arabia has to choose between “supporting extremists and promoting sectarian hatred” or being a constructive player in promoting stability in the Middle East.

“The Ministerial Council discussed the repercussions of the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in the Iranian city of Mashhad”.

Cutting ties with Iran and putting pressure on other countries in so doing will not bear any benefit to Riyadh, he added.

The council deplored Iran’s hostile and provocative statements against Saudi Arabia following the execution of a number of terrorists who were convicted and sentenced in Saudi courts.

Saudi Arabia seems to fear that the removal of the smoke screen of the nuclear issue will expose the real global threat: its active sponsorship of violent extremism.

Referring to the stampede during the Hajj last fall in which 464 Iranians were killed, Zarif condemned what he called Saudi Arabia’s refusal to grant Iran access to the deceased and their delay in sending the bodies home for burial.

While Saudi ally Bahrain said it was severing diplomatic ties with Iran, others like UAE, Jordan, Djibouti, Turkey, Qatar and Sudan said they were downgrading diplomatic relations with Tehran.

Iran, which denounced the attacks on the embassies and vowed to punish the perpetrators, has accused Saudi Arabia of using the crisis to distract attention from the execution and as a cover for anti-Iranian diplomatic efforts.

Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz will give in-camera briefing to the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Standing Committee on Iran-Saudi Arabia matters and role of Pakistan today (Tuesday).

The executions which we witnessed at the weekend, with some people being executed after they were arrested for instigating political protests, including Nimr al-Nimr, constitute a breach of the most basic human rights’ laws.

The video, dated January 9, 2016, and published on Monday, showed masked men throwing firebombs at the building compound in Qatif, a predominantly Shia town in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. The man is said to be at the heart of the current conflict as well as the war in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia had adopted the policy of confronting the regional realities and they seek escalation of tensions and hostility with Iran, Jaber Ansari said.