The Cabinet noted the position of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Gulf Cooperation Council for Arab states, their strong condemnation of Iranian attacks, their categorical rejection of them, and holding Iranian authorities fully responsible according to their commitment to Vienna Conventions 1961 and 1963, and the global law holding countries responsible for protecting diplomatic missions. Following Iran’s condemnation of the execution, the Saudi embassy in Tehran was stormed and set alight by demonstrators.
Advertisement
Since then, Iranians carried out attacks on several other embassies in Tehran, including those of Kuwait in 1987, Saudi Arabia in 1988, Denmark in 2006 and Britain in 2011, most of which led to a breach in diplomatic relations.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has refused to support the Arab League resolution condemning Iran, an Arab League statement said yesterday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (right) welcomes United Nations envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura …
Saudi Arabia, which boasts a 75-90 percent Sunni majority, and Shiite Iran are long-time rivals.
Saudi Arabia and Iran back opposite sides in the Yemen conflict.
After that, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sudan and Djibouti severed diplomatic relations with Iran, demanding that Iranian diplomats leave their territory.
Also Monday, in a meeting with former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani, called on the Saudi leadership to stop creating instability in the region by encouraging hostility toward Iran by other Islamic countries.
In his op-ed, Zarif defended his country’s reaction to the attacks on Saudi diplomatic facilities, saying Tehran took immediate action to return order at the compound in Tehran and punished those responsible for the lapse in embassy security.
Advertisement
Despite efforts to remain diplomatically neutral in the Saudi – Iran rift that has gripped the entire of Middle East, Pakistan succumbed to the interests of its long-standing ally and declared its stance in the conflict. 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. “In Iran I got the same assurance”, he said. “Instead, they may resort to proxy wars in the region including in Yemen and Syria”.
