TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told UN Special Representative for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Sunday that Iran will not allow the Saudis to derail efforts to settle the ongoing conflict in Syria

“We will not allow Saudi provocative approaches to negatively influence the move for resolving the Syria crisis,” Zarif noted.

He also said Iran is resolved to help end the war in Syria that immigration of its people has put a great pressure on European countries.

Saudi Arabia has cut diplomatic and economic ties with Iran under the pretext of attacks on its consulate in Mashhad and embassy in Tehran despite the fact that top Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, condemned the acts and taken steps to punish the attackers. Tehran has also given assurances to provide security for the Saudi diplomatic buildings and compensate any damages. The attacks happened after Saudi Arabia decapitated the pro-democracy Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

After Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran some countries, including the United States, feared that the move might influence efforts to put an end to the Syrian conflict.

Iran has been supporting the central government while supporting a dialogue with groups that are opposed to terrorism. However, Saudi Arabia has been supporting extremist groups though it claims that it only backs opposition groups.

Zarif went on to say that Saudi Arabia is intentionally seeking to exacerbate the situation in Syria by adopting approaches that create tension in the region.

“What we see… is a confrontational approach of Saudi Arabia and through its extreme moves Saudi Arabia is seeking to negatively influence the crisis in Syria,” the foreign minister told de Mistura.

However, he said, Iran has always “taken responsible and constructive actions on the crises.”

For his parts, De Mitsura elaborated on his efforts to implement the Vienna conference and prepare a list of Syrian opposition groups for dialogue with the central government.

In mid-November 2015 the U.S., Russia and other world powers set a target date of Jan. 1, 2016, for formal negotiations to start between the Syrian government and the opposition.

The group set a six-month time-frame for Syria to form an interim unity government and said they wanted to see free-and-fair elections in Syria within 18 months from now.

NA/PA