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Need for Tehran-Riyadh Détente

Need for Tehran-Riyadh Détente
Need for Tehran-Riyadh Détente

Iran and Saudi Arabia should take steps to de-escalate the tension between them, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Monday.

Tensions between the regional rivals escalated this month after Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr triggered an attack by Iranian protesters on its Tehran embassy, leading the kingdom to cut diplomatic ties. “We are prepared to consider any initiative that can help this region become more stable and of course safer, so we can combat the real challenge and the real threat in the region which is terrorism, extremism and of course sectarianism which is a big threat to all of us in the region,” Abbas Araqchi told reporters at an aviation conference in Tehran, according to Reuters.  Araqchi added that it was important to fight “extremist terrorist elements” who are a threat to the whole world.

“We have seen if you don’t fight with them in Syria, for example, we have to fight with them in Paris and in other capitals ... we have to combat it and there is no way but to fight with these terrorist elements now in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen and in other places in the region, otherwise we should all pay for it.”

 

Financialtribune.com