ISLAMABAD: Iranian Ambassador in Islamabad Mehdi Honardost Tuesday said that the Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance meeting in Riyadh had “created misunderstanding among Muslims instead unity”.
The ambassador said in reported comments he hoped that Pakistani leadership will take decisions advisedly. The Iranian envoy’s comments came a day after Saudi crown prince praised Pakistan’s active participation in the alliance during meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The Iranian ambassador said Tehran wanted better relation with Saudi Arabia, adding that tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia was affecting the Islamic world. “The Europe and the America are fully enjoying the wealth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and they are selling their weapons there,” he regretted. Talking about the allegations of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that Iran is destabilising Lebanon, he termed the allegations baseless and said, “We believe that Lebanon is now being made a safe haven for the Islamic State (IS) and we have reservations over the Saudi leadership’s Lebanon policy.”
Published in Daily Times, November 29th 2017.