On Iran-Saudi rift, Gulf Arab states tread with caution

The Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its diplomatic mission in Mashhad were stormed on January 2 over Riyadh’s execution of the prominent Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. “If Iran wants to play a positive role in the region then it must deal with its neighbors based on the principle of good neighborliness”. “Most members of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Islamic State and Nusra Front are Saudi citizens or have been brainwashed by demagogues wielding oil money”, Zarif said in his letter on Saturday.

Iran, which denounced the attacks on the embassies and vowed to punish the perpetrators, has accused Saudi Arabia of using the crisis to distract attention from the execution and as a cover for anti-Iranian diplomatic efforts.

Also Monday, in a meeting with former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani, called on the Saudi leadership to stop creating instability in the region by encouraging hostility toward Iran by other Islamic countries.

In an attempt to ease the situation, China has sent its Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming to visit Saudi Arabia and Iran for an in-depth exchange of views with both sides on the situation, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a regular press conference on Thursday.

He also warned Iran risked being rejected by all the Arab countries of the region.

“The prime minister affirmed that the people ofPakistan will always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of Saudi Arabia against any threat to territorial integrity and sovereignty of Saudi Arabia”, said the statement issued after PM Sharif’s meeting with Saudi minister.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and some other states have broken off ties with Iran over the attack.

Pakistan hold its defense ties with Saudi Arabia in highest esteem, said Sharif, the army chief.

Oman, meanwhile, denounced the attacks on the Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran as “unacceptable”. “By contrast, the Saudi government or its surrogates have over the past three years directly targeted Iranian diplomatic facilities in Yemen, Lebanon and Pakistan”.

Writing in The New York Times, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Tehran is determined to act against the attackers.

The war of words between Iran and Saudi Arabia has escalated, with the two Middle East rivals swapping accusations about endangering regional security and targeting their respective embassies.