The claims reflect escalating tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which intensified this week after the Saudis executed a prominent Shiite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, whom they accused of being a terrorist.
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The scene around the Iranian embassy in Riyadh and its consulate in Jeddah looks normal while the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad have been burned down by angry mobs.
The Saudi government and staunch ally Bahrain severed diplomatic ties, giving Iranian ambassadors 48 hours to leave after protesters set the Saudi embassy in Tehran on fire over the weekend following the execution of Saudi cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a critic of the kingdom’s treatment of its Shiite minority.
Speaking alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, al-Jaafari said Iraq’s place in the heart of the Middle East allows it to play a role in trying to “alleviate tensions”.
Iranian state television made the announcement Thursday.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming was now in Saudi Arabia and would travel on to Iran, ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.
Iran backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels while Saudi Arabia has pushed for his ouster in a civil war in which at least 250,000 people have died and more than 10 million have been displaced internally or driven overseas as refugees.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have cultivated a close alliance for decades, and Sharif spent time in political exile in Saudi Arabia in the 2000s, after he was ousted in a military coup.
Somalia joins Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Bahrain in cutting ties to Iran amid the crisis.
The US is implicated in the mass execution in Saudi Arabia more than the media likes to let on.
Shias protest against the execution of Shia Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, during a demonstration in Baghdad January 6, 2016.
“All Iranian officials condemn it”, he added.
“This responsibility has been given to us and we have been active from the early moments to lessen tensions to prevent a disaster from happening that could affect the entire region”, he said.
Nimr, one of 47 men executed on Saturday, was a driving force behind 2011 anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. Other countries have downgraded their ties to Iran.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have never exactly been tight. The sultanate has been a long-time mediator between Iran and the rest of the world and helped jumpstart negotiations for the nuclear deal with global powers reached previous year. That watchdog and others have alleged that Saudi officials discriminate against the Shiites by rarely allowing them to build mosques and limiting their access to public education, government employment and the justice system, something the government denies.
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“It’s hard to imagine what major difference it makes to Syria diplomacy which is really in its infancy in any event”, he said. The United Arab Emirates reduced its representation to the level of charge d’affaires.
