Saudi Arabia’s decision to break off diplomatic ties with Iran will not affect its own efforts to secure peace in Syria and Yemen, the kingdom’s ambassador to the United Nations, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, said on Monday (January 4).
“From our side it will have no effect because it will continue to work very hard towards supporting the peace efforts in Syria, in Yemen, wherever there might be a need for that. How is that going to affect the behavior of Iran? We do not know. You would need to ask the Iranians on that. But the Iranians, even before the break of diplomatic relations, have not been very supportive, have not been very positive in these peace efforts. They have been taking provocative and negative positions and lines, and, as such I don’t think the break in relations is going to dissuade them from such behavior,” he told reporters.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday the United States “certainly would condemn any country that’s carrying out mass executions” and warned that the dispute between Tehran and Riyadh would make it more difficult to push warring sides in the Syrian conflict toward a political solution. But Al-Mouallimi said his country would still attend the next round of talks.
“We are not going to boycott them because of Iran or anybody else for that matter. If we decide to boycott them it would have to be for a better reason than that,” he said.
Sunni-Shi’ite tension in the region spilled over on Saturday night (January 2) when Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi’ite cleric.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday he was “deeply dismayed” by the execution of al-Nimr and 46 other people in Saudi Arabia and called for calm and restraint. Al-Mouallimi said any concerns are misplaced.
“The execution should not raise sectarian tensions. Mr. Al-Nimr was a Saudi citizen. He was given the same rights and privileges as an accused defendant that was given to the rest of the Saudi citizens, the others who were on trial.”
Al-Mouallimi said his country could restore ties with Iran if certain conditions are met.
“Iran to cease and desist from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, including our own. If they do so we will of course have normal relations with Iran. Iran is a sisterly country, we share history with Iran, we share religion with Iran, we share geography, and we share a common future,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has since been rallying Sunni allies to its side. Bahrain and Sudan cut all ties with Iran. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to hundreds of thousands of Iranians, partially downgraded its relations. (Reuters)