Saudi splurging out to rally support against Iran

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif will be embarking on a visit to Saudi Arabia and Iran from Monday to defuse tension between the two countries that spiralled after the execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia.

Thomson ReutersIranian Foreign Minister Zarif gestures as he attends a joint news conference with his German counterpart Steinmeier in TehranDUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that the “arrogant nouveau-riche” should stay out of diplomacy after the United Arab Emirates mocked his criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

The balancing act for Washington comes as the Obama administration readies billions of dollars’ worth of sanctions relief for Iran and seeks the Islamic Republic’s support in ending the Syrian civil war.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, will embark on an important visit to Saudi Arabia and Iran on Monday to patch up differences between the two countries, his office said in a brief statement issued on Saturday.

Somalia’s Finance Minister Mohamed Aden Ibrahim declined to comment on the pledges, but said any financial assistance from Saudi Arabia was not related to Mogadishu’s stance against Iran.

“We have the same understanding of the region”, said Tzipi Livni, a senior Israeli opposition politician and former foreign minister. Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian alliance has also annoyed Iran that was kept out of it along with Syria and Iraq.

When asked to respond to the mass 47 executions meted out by Riyadh on 2 January Hammond told the BBC: “Just to be clear, these people were terrorists”.

The execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges by Saudi Arabia earlier this month, which drew strong condemnation from Iran, may further trigger sectarian divisions and power struggles gripping the region, analysts have said.

“China will continue to carry forward China-Arab traditional friendship and … safeguard peace, stability and development of the region and the world at large”, a policy paper on China’s Arab policy launched by the Chinese foreign ministry read. Maintaining the U.S.’ longstanding “partnership” with Saudi Arabia while trying to end the decades-long acrimonious relationship with Iran at the same time, will prove hard if not mutually exclusive. The tensions heightened past year due to the strife in Yemen and the death of over 400 Iranian pilgrims during the Haj stampede.

Minister for Europe David Lidington replied to the question on Thursday and, while he did not name Saudi Arabia specifically, he said the decision had been a strategic one based on resources. “And we will do what is necessary”.