The White House on Monday (January 4) urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to show restraint in the crisis spurred by the execution of a senior Shi’ite cleric by Saudi Arabia.
“We do continue to be concerned about the need for both the Iranians and the Saudis to de-escalate the situation. We are urging all sides to show some restraint and to not further inflame tensions that are on quite vivid display in the region,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a daily news briefing.
He said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had been in touch with his Iranian counterpart and U.S. diplomatic officials had been in contact with Saudi officials to convey the message.
Earnest said the White House had raised concerns with Saudi Arabia ahead of the execution.
“There have been direct concerns raised by U.S. officials to Saudi officials about the potential damaging consequences of following through on the execution on mass executions, in particular, the execution of of al-Nimr, the political opposition figure, but also the religious leader. And you know, this is a concern that we raised with the Saudis in advance, and unfortunately, the concerns that we expressed to the Saudi’s have precipitated the kinds of consequences that we were concerned about.”
Earnest also said the growing dispute would make efforts to push warring side in the Syrian conflict toward a political solution even more difficult.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran on Sunday (January 3), responding to the storming of its embassy in Tehran in an escalating row between the rival Middle East powers over Riyadh’s execution of Shi’ite Muslim cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, an outspoken opponent of the ruling Al Saudi family. (Reuters)
