The Saudi diplomat said Iran should promise to stop attacks on his country’s diplomatic missions, adding that the global community had recognized Tehran’s failure to protect diplomatic missions.
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The latest developments after Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Tehran amid a dispute over Riyadh’s execution of an opposition Shiite cleric and attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran.
Saudi Arabia’s execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr has angered Shi’ites across the Middle East and caused a major diplomatic row between revolutionary, mainly Shi’ite Iran and Saudi Arabia’s conservative Sunni monarchy.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah said the ambassador was handed a memorandum that condemned the attacks and called for Iran to “respect its global obligations”, according to the official KUNA news agency.
Saudi allies have followed suit, with Bahrain cutting relations with Iran and the United Arab Emirates downgrading ties. In Syria, Iran has been backing the Shia regime of Bashar al-Assad, to the chagrin of Saudi Arabia which supports the rebels.
“The Iranians even before the break of diplomatic relations have not been very supportive, not very positive in these peace efforts”, said Mouallimi.
The execution last week of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr – one of 47 executions carried out by the Saudis on the same day – widened the already deep Shia-Sunni sectarian rift in the region.
Protests erupted after Saudi Arabia executed a senior Shia Muslim cleric. But he urged Iran not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.
Early Tuesday, he met ambassadors of countries that were involved in discussions on Syria in Vienna in October and November, in which both Tehran and Riyadh took part, the Arab source told AFP.
Iran expressed “regret” over the attacks on the diplomatic missions in a letter to the United Nations on Monday and vowed to arrest those responsible.
Bahrain and Sudan cut all ties with Iran, following Riyadh’s example.
The Lower House on Tuesday called on Iran to ease off its anti-Saudi rhetoric and stop targeting the security of Gulf states.
The Saudi civil aviation authority said all flights to and from Iran were also being suspended.
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Al-Nimr, a central figure in the Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, long denied advocating violence.
