But analysts say he has resisted pressure from Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, politicians and protesters to close the newly reopened Saudi embassy in Baghdad.
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Pakistan received a $1.5 billion “gift” from Saudi Arabia previous year to shore up its foreign reserves.
Saudi Arabia was “spreading delusional hype about Iran” after failing to derail the nuclear deal reached with world powers, Tehran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Rouhani requested that the file involving those accused of setting fire to the embassy, as well as others detained after a similar attack on Saudi Arabia s consulate in the second city of Mashhad, be acted on immediately. “For sure we will not allow any such thing”.
Riyadh cut ties with Tehran in response and was joined by some of its Sunni Arab allies including Bahrain and Sudan.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran after attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran, which followed Riyadh’s execution on Saturday of a prominent Shia cleric.
He said the Saudis also engaged in economic warfare by trying to strangle Iran’s economy with drastic reductions in the price of oil, the country’s main export.
“Saudi Arabia is responsible for the damage to the embassy building and the injury to some of its staff”, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari was quoted as saying by Iran’s IRIB news channel, according to the Reuters news agency.
That diplomatic rift has dampened hopes for a timely resolution to Yemen’s civil war, where Iran backs Houthi rebels who are seeking to reinstall former president Saleh. Iran has offered support to the Houthis, but denies actively supporting their war effort. Most of those killed were Sunnis linked to al-Qaeda attacks in the kingdom.
The decision at a SAFF executive meeting Thursday comes days after individual clubs refused to travel to Iran for safety reasons when the competition kicks off next month.
Meanwhile, four Iranians, including an alleged spy, will stand trial in Saudi Arabia, local media reported yesterday.
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Somalia’s Federal government has broken off diplomatic ties with Iran in protest against “continuous interference in the internal affairs of Somalia”.
