Saudi Arabia on the other hand is not willing to let Pakistan sidestep as it is the sole Muslim nation with nuclear weapons, observers say.
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The group said the “best way to force the regime to accept the (political) solution and stick by it” was to allow states that back the opposition to supply rebels with anti-aircraft missiles.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said that both Saudi Arabia and Iran have assured him that their row would not affect their engagement in the Syrian peace talks.
Jaber Ansari said cutting ties with Iran and putting pressure on other countries in doing so will not benefit Riyadh, calling its policies on the region “destructive”.
Zarif called the killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr “barbaric”, and after listing a series of Saudi “provocations” against Iran said his government has never reacted by downgrading their diplomatic relations.
In Riyadh, Ahmed Alibrahim, Saudi affairs specialist and security analyst, told Al Jazeera’s Inside Story that if it were not for the attack on its embassy, “Saudi would not have cut its diplomatic relationship with Iran”. Saudi Arabia and Iran joined world powers at those discussions but there are fears their growing rift could delay further talks planned for this month.
“Egypt refuses all the threats from Iranian officials over [the Saudi kingdom’s] enforcement of its internal law on a Saudi citizen only because he belongs to the Shi’a sect”, Shoukry said.
Yesterday’s talks in Cairo come after foreign ministers of the Gulf Co-operation Council, which groups Sunni Arab monarchies, expressed their “total support” for Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming paid a visit to Saudi Arabia and Iran from January 6 to 10, as tension grew between the two countries.
In a communique, the pan-Arab bloc’s foreign ministers meeting in Cairo condemned “hostile Iranian statements”.
Writing in The New York Times, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Tehran is determined to act against the attackers.
Iran has blamed Saudi Arabia for the diplomatic crisis and accused the kingdom of “sectarian hate-mongering”.
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Iran and Saudi Arabia vie for regional dominance and frequently clash in proxy arenas such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen, but the diplomatic spat over Sheik Nimr al-Nimr’s execution marks a risky escalation of the rivalry with potential implications for the peace process in Syria and the ongoing conflict in Yemen.
