Tehran, Iran, March 10
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
The Iranian embassy in Beijing has expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for offering to help a settlement between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
“Iran has always worked toward reducing tension with neighbors and is not disillusioned about achieving its goal,” the embassy said in a statement March 10.
In the meantime, the statement criticizes Saudi Arabia for “contributing to sectarian and ethnic clashes and providing material and spiritual support for terrorist and Takfiri groups and destabilizing the region and the world.”
Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in January said Iran is ready to resume ties with Saudi Arabia if Riyadh makes a serious change in its behavior.
Relations between Tehran and Riyadh have been strained over the past years after their conflicting views on regional developments, particularly on Yemen and Syria, became more noticeable.
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran after protesters stormed the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad on January 2, 2016 in response to Riyadh's execution of a prominent Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.