Kerry meets Saudi FM to soothe frayed ties

Last Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Iran was “days away” from complying with its obligations under the deal.

The Middle East, however, is fraught with risk for China, a country that has little experience navigating the religious and political tensions that frequently wrack the region. While almost all of the 47 men killed had ties with Sunni Muslim terror groups like Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, the inclusion of al-Nimr set off outrage in Iran, which views itself as the protector of Shi’a Muslims, with the potential of exacerbating deepening sectarian tensions throughout the Middle East. He said that the government of Iran had dismissed the security officials deployed for protection of Saudi embassy, and the names of responsible people would be made public and action taken against them according to the law. At this point, the Saudis are likely to continue the proxy war and hope that the Iranians do something foolish to upset the nuclear deal with the West. Until then, Saudi Arabia will make a lot of noise and attempt subversive activities, but nothing more.

At the same time, Vladimir Yevseyev, head of the department of Eurasian integration and development of the SCO of the CIS Institute, a military expert, thinks that the crisis in Iranian-Saudi relations is a planned provocation: “If only Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran, it would be understandable, but look at what a chain has started, how many states started it, some severed relations, some lowered the status of representative offices”.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has cancelled a planned trip to Tehran, apparently due to Iran’s tension with Saudi Arabia – a key ally of Pakistan.

Nevertheless, many in Riyadh insist the government was not trying to pick a new fight with Iran by executing Nimr, a cleric Riyadh had long accused of stirring up unrest, and who was executed along with dozens of Sunni Muslims also accused of terrorism. But Weinberg pointed to a number of indirect scenarios that could develop.

FOREIGN MINISTER AL-JUBEIR: We never left the Syria support group meeting.

Crude oil has slumped nearly 70 per cent in the past two years, prompting countries from Norway to Saudi Arabia to tap wealth funds accumulated during the boom years to bolster their budgets.

Some other Arab countries, including Bahrain, Sudan, Djibouti, and the UAE also rallied to Saudi Arabia’s side, breaking off or downgrading relations with Iran.

In his briefing, Mr Jubeir also defended Saudi Arabia on its human rights records and over its current confrontation with Iran.

He added: “The last thing the region needs is more conflict, and I know the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia agrees with that”.

Iran says it has no interest in such arms. But we’re going to be continuing our conversation.

In a letter dated January 14, 50 Republican lawmakers urged Kerry to “reconsider your strategic alignment with the Iranian government and give full support to our Middle Eastern allies”, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel. The bulk of assets are believed to be denominated in USA dollars.

If the Obama administration wants to deepen its rapprochement with Iran after having reached an agreement with it over its nuclear energy program, it could further alienate the Saudis. “However, they increasingly can’t expect that”.

Steinmeier will visit Tehran Feb. 2 to prepare grounds for a dialogue between Iran and Saudi Arabia, an informed source said, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported January 16.