“There are rising stockpiles and the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia make any deal on production unlikely”, said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
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Federal officials have told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada’s strategic interest would be well served by strengthening economic ties with oil-rich Saudi Arabia because of its powerful position in the Persian Gulf.
De Mistura echoed his sentiment when he said, “We can not afford to lose this momentum despite what is going on in the region”.
On Wednesday, Iranian diplomats in Saudi Arabia returned to Tehran, according to state media. Both powers back opposing elements in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia formally severed diplomatic ties with Iran, a move that came after Riyadh announced the execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on January 2, inciting a response in Iran, where protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
But whether or not they meant to raise the heat in a tense rivalry that already underpins wars across the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s new rulers have shown no sign of regret.
The service is being held in a village the kingdom’s predominantly Shiite eastern region.
Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran after the attacks and Bahrain swiftly followed suit, severing diplomatic ties with Tehran and halting all flights to and from Iran.
The airstrike claim by Iran came on Thursday afternoon, when its state-run news agency said a Saudi-led airstrike the previous night had hit the Iranian embassy in Sanaa, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry. Among those is Bahrain, which said Wednesday it had broken up a Shiite militant group backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Ansari added: “This deliberate attempt by the Saudi government is in violation of all the conventions and regulation of global law on the protection and the security of diplomatic premises in all situations, and the responsibility for the action, as well as compensation for damage done to the building and injuries to the embassy staff, lies with the government of Saudi Arabia”.
Asked about the diplomatic post attacks, Mohammed al-Nimr said it was “not acceptable”. And human rights activists said al-Nimr’s trial was tightly controlled and unfair.
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Pakistan, which borders Iran and has a large Shi’ite minority, is keen to use the two-day visit to defuse tensions between the Sunni Muslim-majority kingdom and Shi’ite Iran.
