LAHORE – Pakistan will continue its “sincere efforts” to de-escalate tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid says.
“We started these efforts on our own and would go ahead with them,” said the minister while talking to The Nation on Wednesday.
The statement is important as it comes after Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir’s denial that Pakistan “mediated” between Saudi Arabia and Iran amid recent tensions between the two rival countries.
He was quoted as saying a few days ago that “some countries” had offered to mediate and to convey thoughts and ideas between Riyadh and Tehran, adding that Iran was well aware of what it is expected to do.
“There will be no mediation as long as Iran does not respond positively,” he said in Manama where he attended the ministerial meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum.
Al Jubeir alleged that Iran has been following a hostile policy towards the Arab world that included interference in their domestic affairs, sowing sectarian sedition and supporting terrorism.
He also said that there was strong evidence of Iran’s acts of hostility and that Iran was on the list of terrorism-sponsoring countries that was drawn up by the United Nations and other states, beside Saudi Arabia.
On January 3, Saudi Arabia severed its diplomatic relations with Iran when protesters torched the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran in reaction to the execution of a prominent Shia leader.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, accompanied by COAS General Raheel Sharif, had visited Saudi Arabia on January 18 and Iran a day later to bring down the tensions.
During his visit he had met King Salman bin Abdulaziz and President Hassan Rouhani.
At the end of his Tehran visit the prime minister had said that Pakistan’s efforts had been appreciated by both sides.Also, he had said that now Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran would appoint their focal persons to take the process forward.
It is said that so far focal persons have not been nominated.
The information minister was satisfied with the outcome of the prime minister’s visit.He said after the meeting the bitterness on both sides had come down.“The situation is now stable,” Senator Pervaiz Rashid said.
Answering a question about Indian government’s plan to employ an Israel-type highly secured fencing across the border with Pakistan at Azad Kashmir and Punjab sectors, the minister said Pakistan wanted to improve its relations with India to a level where no such measures were required. The purpose of the proposed fencing is to prevent alleged infiltration from the Pakistani side. http://nation.com.pk/national/28-Jan-2016/pakistan-to-continue-efforts-for-defusing-saudi-iran-row
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