ISLAMABAD: The government has offered an in-camera briefing to parliament on a potentially explosive diplomatic conflict in the Gulf region as opposition lawmakers exhorted the Nawaz Sharif administration to play its role to deescalate tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The opposition lawmakers criticized the government for its ‘vague and ambiguous policy’ on the crisis triggered by Saudi Arabia’s execution of a leading Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al Nimr, over terrorism charges earlier this week.
Incensed by Nimr’s execution, Iranian protesters set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and a consulate in Mashhad as Iranian leaders predicted ‘divine vengeance’ for the ruling Al Saud family. Riyadh cut off all ties with the Islamic Republic and rallied other Sunni nations, including Bahrain, Sudan and Kuwait, to snap diplomatic relations with Tehran, deepening a sectarian split across the Middle East.
All major world powers urged restraint and Islamabad voiced concern over the escalation of tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, warning that “dark forces of terrorism and extremism could take advantage of any disunity in the Muslim world”. It called for resolution of differences through peaceful means in the larger interest of Muslim unity in these challenging times.
At the same time, it also deplored the storming of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran as ‘unfortunate and deeply regrettable’. “It is the responsibility of states to provide full safety and security to all diplomatic missions and their personnel,” the Foreign Office said in a carefully worded statement on Monday.