OIC Urges De-Escalation in Iran-Saudi Dispute
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The world's largest Muslim body called for a deescalation of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, telling member countries that unity was required to eradicate terrorism.
Without naming Saudi Arabia and Iran, OIC Secretary General Iyad Madani, a Saudi, said that the continued strains in relations between some member countries was contributing to "deepening the fractures in the Islamic political entity".
Madani made the remarks on Thursday in an address to an extraordinary meeting of the international Muslim body.
Warning against widening sectarian tensions, he said the attacks against Saudi Arabia's diplomatic missions had "breached diplomatic norms".
"This situation turns us from effectively addressing the true challenges that threaten the future of our member states and their peoples," he said, before going on to name recent attacks by suspected militants in Afghanistan, Turkey, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Libya and Mali.
Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi also told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting that "my hope is after this conference tension is not escalated.”
“I hope the conference plays its role to deescalate the situation. It’s very much hoped by OIC. But apparently some specific countries do not like that. They prefer tension. But tension is in favor of nobody."
Tensions ran high between Iran and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks mainly due to Riyadh’s execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and a subsequent attack by outraged Iranian protesters on the Saudi embassy in Tehran, which resulted in the Arab country’s decision to sever its ties with the Islamic Republic.
On January 2, Saudi Arabia announced that it has executed Sheikh Nimr, among dozens of others. The execution ignited widespread international condemnation, from both political and religious figures.
The next day, furious demonstrators in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad stormed Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic buildings in protest at the execution of Sheikh Nimr.
Although Iranian officials criticized the embassy attack and police arrested dozens involved, Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic.
