Pak defence minister cancels visit to Iran

It seems Islamabad has finally decided not to remain “neutral” in the Saudi‎-Iran row and rather it has made a decision to adopt a “balanced’ position”.

Rida Harb, who heads the Center for Global Security and Geopolitical Studies, told G2Bulletin in an exclusive interview that the execution of Ayatollah Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, which prompted massive protests throughout Shia Iran, “not only puts Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses into the spotlight, but also its barbaric judicial system and obscurant Wahhabi doctrine”.

“It seems as Prime Minister Nawaz and General Raheel Sharif are on the same page as far as the foreign policy of the country is concerned”.

Last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the attack on the Saudi Embassy “wrong and against the law”. He accused Iran of worsening tensions between the two groups after its revolution in 1979.

The Saudi air force, along with the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf allies, have backed the internationally recognised government in Yemen against a rebellion that swept much of the country from the north.

But diplomats said it was the latest sign of patronage used by the kingdom to shore up regional support against Iran, a rivalry that deepened this month when Sunni majority Saudi Arabia executed a Shi’ite cleric and Iranian protesters responded by torching the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Saudi foreign and defence ministers recently visited Pakistan and met with the prime minister as well as the army chief. “It also reflects the vision to help bring cordiality among Muslim brotherly countries”, he added.

WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (APP): The United States said on Friday, it would like Pakistan and India to continue efforts for peace saying the attack on the Indian airbase in Pathankot was an attempt to undermine talks between the two neighbors.

Obama has understandably been reluctant to get involved in Saudi Arabia’s proxy religious war with the Persian Shiites of Iran, but he was able to pressure them to form an alliance of 34 Sunni nations that have pledged to fight the Islamic State and other terrorists because the Islamic State wants to overthrow the House of Saud.

Before Iran’s Islamic revolution, former U.S. presidents like Richard Nixon had a two-pillar strategy of maintaining ties with both the shah’s Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Official sources confirmed that the top civilian and military leaders will pay a day-long visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday where they will have meetings with King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and other senior royals. Riyadh broke off relations with Tehran, and the UAE downgraded ties.