Pakistan PM heads to Saudi, Iran in bid to mend rift

Moral pressure on Prime Minister Nawaz is tremendous as he had been guest of Saudi Royal family for over seven years when he was sent to Saudi Arabia out of a deal among former Army General Musharraf, United States, Saudi Arabia and Nawaz family after the removal of Nawaz from prime minister ship in a coup.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan hit back at Zarif and Iran, which is also accused of serious human rights violations, with a tweet to his 2.58 million followers.

The majority of those executed were convicted of either drugs or murder charges.

There are concerns that the polarizations in the region may worsen in the coming days.

“We also understand the challenges that the kingdom and other countries feel in the region about interference in their countries”, declared Kerry.

It is possible to describe the first reactions of these countries as “neutral”.

He particularly mentioned the meeting of PTI chairman Imran Khan with Iranian Ambassador in Pakistan after the attack on Saudi embassy in Tehran.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will be visiting Saudi Arabia and Iran to push for a bigger diplomacy role.

Al-Jubeir spoke to reporters yesterday at the Saudi embassy in London for more than an hour and stressed that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and has hosted terrorists including leaders of Al-Qaeda. We have not been good at explaining ourselves.

Gaza based Islamic terror group Hamas has rejected an offer by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javed Zarif who proposed renewing Iranian financial support for the group if it were to officially declare its allegiance to Iran in the wake of the diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia, pan-Arab paper Asharq al-Awsat.

“Some geopolitical tendencies have not been in line with Saudi Arabia’s interests for decades”.

Yet there are reasons to question the deal that brings Iran in from the cold in exchange for promises over its nuclear programme.

Trade between nations is a good thing, and not just because it makes the world wealthier.

“China is trying to present itself as an honest broker between Saudi and Iran, much as it has done between the Syrian government and opposition”, said one Beijing-based diplomat, who is familiar with China’s Middle East policy.

In a commentary, the official Xinhua news agency said: “Although China never takes sides, it will be a rare opportunity for China to call for calm and restraint from both sides”. “This is not an easy incident”, Özel said. It said Pakistan wanted to defuse tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran in a peaceful manner.

The war of words between Iran and Saudi Arabia was ratcheted up in the aftermath of the Hajj stampede a few months ago that led to the deaths of over seven hundred people. Taking a backward step is apparently hard for Riyadh because such an act will be perceived as weakness by the Saudi people. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran after the attacks on its diplomatic posts.

It is rare that the army chief will also be travelling to Iran along with the PM. Among them, as revealed by Middle East Eye, were inmates arrested as juveniles and others apparently suffering from mental illness.