Sharif begins mediation mission
FRANCE STEPS IN, SAYS IT WILL TRY TO DE-ESCALATE SITUATION DURING ROUHANI VISIT
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif meet King Salman in Riyadh as part of a visit that will also take them to Iran to ease tensions between Riyadh and Tehran
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif yesterday arrived in Saudi Arabia as part of a visit that will also take them to Iran to ease tensions between the two countries.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz “welcomed the prime minister of Pakistan and his delegation” to his palace.
The report gave no details of their discussions, which SPA earlier said were to touch on regional as well as bilateral issues.
“Pakistan is deeply concerned at the recent escalation of tensions between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Islamabad’s foreign ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said ahead of Sharif’s trip.
“The purpose of the visit is to mediate and to end the standoff between the two countries,” a Pakistani government official said, requesting anonymity.
People in Pakistan and abroad await the outcome of the initiative taken by Sharif to bring the two rivals to the negotiating table, Dawn online reported.
Waheed Hamza Hashem, a political science professor at Jeddah-based King Abdul Aziz University, expressed optimisim about Sharif’s visit, saying there were “chances of success”.
“Saudi Arabia has not taken any position that is hostile to Iran or against it as a Muslim country”, he told Gulf News.
He added that it was incumbent on Iran to “show its good intentions”, and “show a political will not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Gulf states, end its violations and support to extremist groups, especially the minorities whether being in Bahrain, Yemen or the Eastern part of Saudi Arabia”.
With Raheel Sharif in the delegation, the visit has assumed added importance and it is hoped Pakistan would make a serious attempt to defuse tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The foreign office in its statement said Pakistan was deeply concerned at the recent escalation of tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran. “The prime minister has called for resolution of differences through peaceful means, in the larger interest of Muslim unity particularly during these challenging times,” it said.
Pakistan had consistently advocated the policy of promoting brotherhood among member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the statement said.
Meanwhile, France said would like to de-escalate tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, its foreign minister Laurent Fabius said yesterday ahead of a visit to Riyadh to meet with King Salman and other officials.
“Our view as France is to try to de-escalate pressure,” Fabius said, adding that France would also hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who is due to visit Paris next week.
The execution earlier this month of Shiite cleric Nimr Al Nimr in Saudi Arabia sparked tensions bordering almost on hostility between the two countries. Riyadh snapped diplomatic relations with Tehran after its embassy in Iran was set ablaze by protesters.