Govt to brief parliamentarians on talks with Saudi Arabia: Mushahid

Tensions in the Gulf have reached levels unseen since the 1980s, when Iraq received Gulf Arab funding for its 1980-88 war against Iran in a pan-Arab effort to stem the influence of the Islamic revolution that had toppled the Shah.

Zarif called the killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr “barbaric”, and after listing a series of Saudi “provocations” against Iran said his government has never reacted by downgrading their diplomatic relations.

The chief of the army of Pakistan is warning that if Iran threatens Saudi Arabia his country will strike back.

The row erupted following Saudi Arabia’s execution on Jan 2 of a prominent Shia cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, along with 46 others on terrorism charges.

“The Ministerial Council discussed the repercussions of the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in the Iranian city of Mashhad”. Tehran then cut all commercial ties with Riyadh, and banned pilgrims from traveling to Mecca.

Iranian officials have condemned the attacks on the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.

Iran took steps on Monday to try to limit the diplomatic damage from an attack on Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran by an angry mob, laying blame on a top security official and saying some of those who carried out the attack were being interrogated.

If Iran continues to support “terrorism, sectarianism and violence”, it would face opposition from all Arab countries, Jubeir told a news conference following the meeting.

Saudi Defence Minister’s visit to Pakistan was the second high-level visit after kingdom’s foreign minister’s visit.

Chinese ally Russian Federation has also indicated it is ready to invite the Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers to Moscow for negotiations.

In an audio statement posted online, leading Saudi Al Qaeda chief Ibrahim al-Assiri warned: “we will deal with Al-Saud, now that the blood has been shed”.

“The Saudi foreign minister assured me that there would be no impact from their point of view”.

Non-governmental organisations said in a letter to the United Nations General Assembly that Iran executed at least 830 people between January and November 1 previous year.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming paid a visit to Saudi Arabia and Iran from January 6 to 10, as tension grew between the two countries.

The Jakarta Globe reported that President Joko Widodo will send special envoys immediately to act as mediators to ease heightening tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran.