Arab League slams Iran over spat with Saudi Arabia

The Arab League Sunday supported Saudi Arabia in its continuing diplomatic spat with Iran, triggered by the kingdom’s execution of a dissident Shiite cleric, condemning Tehran for failing to protect Saudi diplomatic sites in the Persian country.

“The Arab League won’t accept Iranian intervention in the Arab region and sowing sectarian strife,” Nabil al-Araby, secretary-general of the organization, said in a televised news conference following an emergency session of the pan-Arab group requested by Riyadh at its headquarters in Cairo.

The statement was supported by all the member states except Lebanon, which has a large Shiite population and strong political ties with Tehran.

The statement stopped short of recommending any collective action against Iran — such as the severing of all ties with the Islamic Republic — but said diplomats from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia would form a subcommittee to continue discussions on the matter.

Source: MarketWatch