Iran says OIC bowed to Saudi agenda

Published January 22, 2016
OIC had “in effect put itself at the service of the objectives of a single country,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman  said. ─ Reuters/File
OIC had “in effect put itself at the service of the objectives of a single country,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said. ─ Reuters/File

TEHRAN: Iran accused the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) of bowing to Riyadh's agenda after the world Muslim body condemned Tehran over the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in the country.

The statement issued at the end of an OIC meeting Thursday at its headquarters in the Saudi city of Jeddah “ignored the reality over the incident at the Saudi embassy and the rapid actions of the Islamic republic... to calm the situation”, said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari on Friday.

Ansari, quoted by state news agency IRNA, said the OIC had “in effect put itself at the service of the objectives of a single country” by raising the issue although it was not on the agenda of the Jeddah meeting.

A final statement, issued after a meeting of foreign ministers of the 57-member grouping, said the OIC “condemns the aggressions against the missions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Tehran and Mashhad”.

It followed an extraordinary meeting requested by Saudi Arabia after protesters in Iran in early January set fire to the embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the second city of Mashhad.

Related: Middle East tensions boil as Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Iran

Such “aggression” contravenes international law as well as the OIC charter, said the communique, which member state Iran rejected.

The violence against Riyadh's missions occurred after Saudi Arabia executed dissident Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a driving force behind anti-government protests in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia and some of its allies cut diplomatic ties with Iran as a result of the attacks on its missions.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...