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Turkey should mediate between Iran, Saudi Arabia - former OIC head

Türkiye Materials 10 January 2016 14:34 (UTC +04:00)
Turkey should mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia
Turkey should mediate between Iran, Saudi Arabia - former OIC head

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 10

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey should mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia, said the former head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, currently MP from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Turkish Turkyurduhaber online newspaper reported.

Ihsanoglu went on to add that the crisis in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran may lead to bloody consequences, and Turkey can greatly suffer from them as well.
Ihsanoglu said that the Turkish parliament should immediately establish a special commission to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran soured after execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric, by the Kingdom along with other 46 people, which was followed by a strong protest from Iran.

Mass protests took place in Iran following the said execution. In particular, the Saudi embassy in the capital Tehran and the consulate in the city of Mashhad were attacked, after which Riyadh broke off diplomatic ties with Tehran on Jan. 3.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Abdullah al-Moallem said that relations with Iran will be restored only when Tehran stops "interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, including that of Saudi Arabia's".

Meanwhile, Turkey's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on the embassy of Saudi Arabia, and urged Tehran and Riyadh to resolve the crisis in relations diplomatically.

The Iranian government has recently banned the import of products from Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia's goods from other countries.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu

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