Putin: Differences between Saudi Arabia, Iran complicate resolution of Syrian problem

Though it was the executions of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi-ite cleric and three other Shi’ite Muslims, which drove up sectarian tension with Shi-ite power Iran, analysts say they were meant mostly to send a signal to militant Sunnis.

According to a press release issued by the Office of the Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz informed the Committee regarding Pakistan’s stance as a friend of Saudi Arabia and that any danger to Saudi Arabia’s integrity would evoke a strong response from the country.

“Iran should reject intervention and its support for terrorism in order to live as a neighbour and if it continues to support terrorism, it will face opposition from Arab countries”, Saudi’s Al- Jubeir told reporters. At a meeting in Cairo on Sunday, foreign ministers from the 22-member-state body advised against so-called interference in the internal affairs of its nations.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif claims Saudi Arabia is using the row to hurt peace talks on Syria.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of interfering in its affairs and allowing the protesters to ransack its diplomatic missions. The stand is untestable and pragmatic, given our history, dependency on Arab oil and the fact that in contrast Iran doesn’t really enjoy good diplomatic relations with any country. Later, Riyadh cut its diplomatic ties with Tehran over the attack on its embassy, while many of Gulf partners either followed suit or downgraded their relations with the Islamic Republic.

Pakistan appears to be intentionally mixing up two very unrelated matters – the two holy sites and the ruling family of Saudi Arabia.

In a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday Zarif said that Saudi Arabia was directly provoking his country and looking for ways to drag the entire region into sectrarian conflict.

Weeks before the latest diplomatic tussle, Iran and Saudi were, in fact, making significant progress that would have paved the way for the arrival of Riyadh’s new ambassador to Tehran, said Adnan Tabatabai, an Iran political analyst and founder of the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient in Bonn, Germany.

As Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats said, “Clearly, Saudi Arabia has a great influence over this Government”. “The outrageous beheading recently of Sheikh Nimr was immediately preceded by a sermon of hatred toward Shi’ites by a Grand Mosque preacher in Mecca, who past year said that “our disagreement with Shi’ites will not be removed, nor our suicide to fight them” as long as Shi’ites remained on the earth”.

While in Saudi, Zhang talked about the situation between Saudi Arabia and Iran and “hopes the relevant parties maintain calm and exercise restraint, step up dialogue and consultations and jointly promote an amelioration of the situation”, the ministry said.