Imran meets Saudi, Iranian Ambassadors to get cognizance on diplomatic row between Riyadh and Tehran

ISLAMABAD, January 8: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan met with Saudi and Iranian Ambassadors on Friday to get cognizance on diplomatic row between Riyadh and Tehran.
Accompanied by former foreign minister and senior PTI leader Dr, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Naeemul Haq, Imran Khan met with Saudi Ambassador Abdullah Marzouq Al Zahrani as part of his efforts to defuse tensions between the two countries, said a statement posted on PTI’s twitter account.
During the meeting Imran Khan stressed the need for negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Iran to end tensions in a peaceful manner .
“PTI holds both the brotherly Islamic countries in high regard, and is concerned over the row between them,” the statement quoted Imran Khan as having told the Saudi diplomat.
PTI chairman held a separate meeting with Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honordoost. Saudi Arabia and Iran are at loggerheads after the former executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr last week.
Speaking to media after the meetings, Imran Khan said both the ambassadors informed him about their viewpoints about the prevailing standoff.
“Saudis say they executed Sheikh Al-Nimr along with 46 others, most of them Sunnis, and it was their internal issue,” he said, adding that the Saudis were angry over the attack on their embassy in Tehran.
While briefing the media about Iranian viewpoint, Khan said Tehran termed the attack on Saudi embassy as an attempt to undermine Iran’s improving status in international community following their deal with West and the US.
He said Iranians are of the view that the before their forces could make it to the besieged embassy, Riyadh announced to cut diplomatic relations.
The Iranians, he said, pledged to arrest the elements behind the attack within 10 days. Iran also sees the 34-national coalition against terrorism, of which Pakistan is also a member, as an anti-Iran alliance.
Imran Khan deplored what he said lack of leadership on part of the Pakistani rulers who have failed to make policy statement on the issue. He urged the government to act as a mediator in the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia as rising tensions would impact the entire Muslim Ummah.
Saudi Arabi and its Gulf allies cut or lowered their diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic after the attack on Saudi Embassy. Iran’s protest over the execution of Nimr is considered by Saudis as meddling in their internal affairs. -Samaa