Arab League ministers back Saudi Arabia and condemn Iran

The federal government’s 2015 report on human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia is in its final stages, according to an official at Global Affairs Canada, but there’s no date set yet for when it will be released to the public.

“The Arab League won’t accept Iranian intervention in the Arab region and sowing sectarian strife”, Nabil al-Araby, secretary-general of the organization, said following the meeting.

Lorajani continued on to blast the attitudes of the Saudi leadership stating that Saudi officials speak with the illusion that they have control of the affairs of all Islamic countries. He said that Iran had a strong relationship with Arab countries in the past but had not exerted efforts to maintain and engnder it. He said that Iran had earlier occupied three islands belonging to the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabi and several Arab and Muslim countries cut diplomatic ties with Riyadh last week after the ransacking of the Saudi embassy and consulates in Tehran and Mashad.

On January 2, the kingdom executed 47 men convicted of “terrorism”, including Al-Qaeda-linked Sunni militants and Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, whose death sparked a diplomatic crisis with Iran. “This has fallen on deaf ears in Saudi Arabia”.

Drawing upon the companionship of some Arab states in severing or downgrading diplomatic ties with Iran, he said that some states are trying to solve their economic problems by Saudi petro-dollars or they share political interests with Riyadh.

A number of countries – including the U.S., the U.K., China and Turkey – have urged both Saudi Arabia and Iran to show restraint amid the ongoing row. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan will share intelligence with the Saudis in the fight against terrorism.

Jubeir said some countries had offered to mediate but that required Iran to be serious about the efforts.

Saudi Arabia and Iran back opposing sides in the conflict, with Riyadh supporting rebel groups and Tehran behind President Bashar al-Assad.

Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan who led the emergency meeting said the embassy attack “took place under the nose and within the earshot of security forces”.

It was not initially clear who was behind the attack.