Iranian President Hassan Rouhani yesterday said that Saudi Arabia cannot hide “its crime” of executing a Shiite Muslim cleric by cutting ties with Tehran, warning that discord could affect the fight against terrorism.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Sudan broke all ties with Iran and the United Arab Emirates on Monday downgraded its relations after the Saudi embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters.
Kuwait yesterday recalled its ambassador to Iran.
Photo: AP
An angry mob broke into the embassy on Saturday night and started fires following protests against the kingdom’s execution of cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent critic of Saudi policy, and three other Shiites as well as 43 Sunni al-Qaeda militants.
“Saudi Arabia cannot hide its crime of beheading a religious leader by severing political relations with Iran,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in a meeting with the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Kristian Jensen in Tehran.
“We believe diplomacy and negotiations are the best way to solve problems between countries,” he added. “Regional countries can save the region of terrorism dangers through unity.”
The Iranian government is trying to calm tensions by distancing itself from the attack on the Saudi embassy and even blaming foreign elements for organizing it.
Iranian government’s spokesman called the attack “suspicious” and “in favor of Saudi Arabia’s policies.”
“A few people — with whom it’s not clear which country’s interests they are serving — took advantage of people’s feelings,” the Iranian Labor News Agency yesterday quoted Mohammad Bagher Nobakht as saying.
Iranian Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi was also quoted by Iranian media as saying “the latest action against the Saudi embassy could be planned and supported by infiltrated agents.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has referred to the embassy attackers as extremists and said Iran should put to an end to attacking embassies once and forever.
The government has also expressed “regrets” in a letter to the UN over the attacks and reiterated its commitment to complying with international law. Iranian Ambassador to the UN Gholam-Ali Khoshroo on Monday sent the letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, IRNA reported.
“Iran will take necessary measures to prevent similar occurrences,” he wrote, adding that his country “will do its best to arrest all the perpetrators of the incident and prosecute them.”
Fifty people involved in Saturday night’s attacks have been arrested and referred to the judiciary, a spokesman for Iran’s police said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS