Iran’s foreign minister has complained to the United Nations about Saudi Arabia’s “provocations” toward Tehran, as a diplomatic crisis between the region’s two major powers entered its second week.
Iran’s foreign minister has complained to the United Nations about Saudi Arabia’s “provocations” toward Tehran, as a diplomatic crisis between the region’s two major powers entered its second week.
In a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon published by Iranian news agencies on Saturday, Mohammad Javad Zarif said “some people” in Riyadh seemed bent on dragging the whole region into crisis.
The two powers, both major oil exporters, have been locked in a diplomatic battle since Saudi Arabia executed Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr on January 2. Iranian protesters then stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran, prompting Riyadh to sever relations.
Mr Zarif said Iran had “no desire” to escalate tensions further, but offered no compromise as he placed the blame for the crisis, and the wider turmoil across the region, squarely on Saudi shoulders.
“They (the Saudis) can continue to support extremist terrorists and promote sectarian hatred, or choose the path of good neighbourliness and play a constructive role in regional security,” state news agency IRNA quoted Mr Zarif’s letter as saying.
Mr Zarif said Sunni Saudi Arabia had engaged in a series of “direct provocations” toward Shia Iran, including the execution of Nimr and what he described as “persistent mistreatment” of Iranian pilgrims visiting Mecca.
Saudi Arabia says last week’s executions were a domestic matter and that Iran were the ones engaged in sectarianism.Mr Zarif also portrayed Saudi Arabia as a threat to regional and global security in the letter.
