Meeting of Islamic nations focuses Saudi-Iran fallout

Over 45 Muslim countries at meeting organized by worlds largest Muslim organization condemn Iran for Saudi Embassy attack and for supporting terrorism.

The Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) earlier said that Saudi Arabia had sought the emergency meeting.

Saudi Arabia blamed the Iranian government for the attack, kicked out the Iranian Embassy staff in Riyadh and cut all ties with Tehran.

The communiqué also denounced Iran’s “continued support for terrorism” and need for stressed the need for “non-interference in the internal affairs of Member States, particularly those affairs that are within internal legislation” as per the United Nations Charter and the OIC Charter.

The violence against Riyadh’s missions occurred after Saudi Arabia executed dissident Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a driving force behind anti-government protests in the kingdom.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry expressed deep concerns at the recent escalation of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

“The visits to Saudi Arabia and Iran exemplify this approach”, said Mary Gallagher, associate professor of political science at the University of MI.

The launch of the refinery, he said, conforms to not only the Saudi national development strategy, but also China’s strategy of carrying out cooperation with countries in the regions outlined in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, a vision Xi put forward in 2013 to boost interconnectivity and common development along the ancient land and maritime Silk Roads.

“The importance of this meeting is in the fact that this aggression is not the first but only a part of a series of continuous attacks that diplomatic missions have been subjected to in Iran for 35 years”, Jubeir said. He also said that young religious groups, often called “Hezbollahis” in Iran, should not be blamed for the attack. The two countries also affirmed interests in the mechanism of consultation between the them in all fields and at al levels and to facilitate exchange of individuals and benefits in all areas.

However his remarks on Wednesday, in a speech to electoral officials ahead of the country’s parliamentary polls on February 26, underscored that the embassy attack had no sympathy from within the Islamic republic’s establishment.

Pressed on whether Saudi Arabia is developing their own nuclear option, Al-Jubeir stressed there are “two things we do not negotiate over, our faith and our security”.

“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”.

During Xi’s two-day stay in Riyadh, China and Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil importer and producer respectively, signed 14 agreements and memoranda of understanding, including massive oil deals and pacts to speed up China-Gulf region free-trade talks and build a nuclear reactor.

Zarif said Saudi Arabia had devoted itself to trying to stop Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and blocked attempts at dialogue in the Middle East.