Arab League Backs Saudis In Iran Row

“Iran doesn’t have qualms and doesn’t hesitate to using the sectarian card as a way to dominate the region, and interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries”, Al Nahyan said at the opening ceremony.

Tensions between revolutionary, mainly Shi’ite Iran and Saudi Arabia’s conservative Sunni monarchy have run high for years as they backed opposing forces in wars and political conflicts across the Middle East, usually along sectarian lines.

Saudi Arabia had cut diplomatic ties with Iran after protesters torched two of its diplomatic buildings in Tehran and Mashhad. Several other countries have followed Riyadh’s lead and severed or downgraded their relations with Iran.

The longstanding conflict between the two countries reached a boiling point when Iran didn’t prevent the ransacking of Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic missions in Iran.

Putin noted that Russian Federation has good relations with Iran and that a sustainable partnership is being formed with Saudi Arabia.

He says that efforts by himself and President Hassan Rouhani to “engage in dialogue, promote stability and combat destabilizing extremism” have “fallen on deaf ears” in Saudi Arabia.

In the article, Zarif draw’s a comparison between Saudi and the actions of militant Islamist groups by highlighting Saudi Arabia’s preferred execution method, beheading. Nabil al-Arabi, the Egyptian Secretary-General of the Arab League, demanded that the Arab League “adopt a strong and clear common position calling on Iran to stop all forms of interference in the affairs of Arab nations”.

Sartaj Aziz, while briefing the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee, said that all matters between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had been settled. “This has fallen on deaf ears in Saudi Arabia”, he wrote.

“If Iran wants to have a positive role in the region, they have to deal with their neighbors”, he said. It also pointed out that these attacks on the diplomatic missions “come after statements by the hostile Iranian regime that form a blatant incitement that encourages attacks on the Kingdom’s missions and represents an obvious violation of all worldwide agreements, charters and treaties”.

Senior Arab officials on Sunday called on Arab states to take more measures against Iran in an attempt to rein in the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy behavior, Arab News reports.