Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif would travel to Riyadh and Tehran together on Monday in an attempt to persuade them to de-escalate and resolve their disputes diplomatically.
Advertisement
Kerry told reporters that the US understands “the challenges that the kingdom and other countries feel in the region about interference in their countries”.
He added that there was great concern about the additional funding Iran was about to gain by the lifting of economic sanctions and the return of billions of dollars in frozen assets.
However, with the Sunni Arab world joining forces against Iran, led by Saudi Arabia and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, who are both hostile to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group has in the past been left little option but to accept Iranian offers.
Pakistan has made a decision to launch a mediation effort to end the standoff between Iran and Saudi Arabia amid growing global fears that a prolonged confrontation could have serious consequences for the region.
Saudi Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman had also visited Islamabad during which Gen. Raheel had assured him of a “strong response” to threats to the kingdom’s territorial integrity.
“Our relationship with Saudi Arabia was long-standing and is not something that has just started”, the minister told Reuters.
The tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran spiralled in the wake of various adverse developments including the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia and subsequently the setting on fire of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in Mashhad. The challenge for the West is how to have good relations with both without antagonising the other and at the same time trying to bring about a degree of positive change in these countries.
Shortly after diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia were snapped on 3 January, Moscow expressed a readiness to mediate and help them restore ties.
It defends its execution of shiite cleric Nimr al Nimr as the work of an independent judiciary.
Tehran gradually halted its support for the Palestinian organization; it was also recently reported that Iran has ended its financial backing for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, probably due to its position on the civil war in Yemen. And, he said Saudi Arabia opposes the creation of tension between the groups.
Advertisement
For decades it has presented itself as a conservative bastion of stability in the Middle East. But recent events have seen the Saudi government described by observers as reckless, impulsive, and unsafe. They invite it, and believe me, as President Obama said the other day, if that’s the choice they leave us, we’re going to do what’s necessary to protect our people.
