Iran complains to UN about Saudi ‘provocations’

Those attacks came after Saudi Arabia executed al-Nimr on January 2.

Protesters presented a memorandum to the Pakistani Foreign Office, calling on Islamabad to withdraw from the Saudi-led alliance.

Riyadh’s execution last Saturday of a prominent Shiite cleric unleashed a wave of anger across the Shiite world, most prominently in Iran.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia, both overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim powers, share the same vision over the conflict in Syria where they believe only the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad can bring an end to nearly five years of civil war.

He echoed comments made on Monday by Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi, who said that “By adopting terroristic and inhuman policies, the [Saudi] regime will not achieve enhanced security”.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly accused each other of backing extremist groups who are wreaking chaos in the Middle East.

That report called “Iranian hostile and provocative statement on the judicial rulings implements (in Saudi Arabia) against a number of terrorists” as “direct incitements for launching attacks on the diplomatic missions”.

The GCC “totally supports decisions taken by Saudi Arabia to combat terrorism” and “has total confidence in the independence and integrity of Saudi justice”.

On the same day, unidentified gunmen open fire on a police patrol in al-Nimr’s hometown in Saudi Arabia’s Qatif province, killing one person.

It pointed out to the recent terror plot foiled by Bahrain and the arrest of a terror gang, which was receiving support from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hizbollah.

Abu Dhabi: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on Saturday condemned what they said was Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia and the region.

Iran denounced those attacks, but the repercussions quickly rippled across the region and beyond with Saudi allies Bahrain, Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan following Riyadh’s example and cutting diplomatic ties with Tehran.

Special UN envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed arrived in Riyadh Friday to meet Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, the government’s delegation to the talks and political party leaders, as well as senior Saudi officials, the UN said in Geneva.

Last weekend, protesters stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy in Iran after Riyadh executed top Iranian Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, along with dozens of other people convicted of terrorism. The Islamic Republic of Iran expressed hopes that Saudi Arabia will take some measures to promote stability in the region.

Zarif said Iran had “no desire” to escalate tensions further, but offered no compromise.