TEHRAN – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has criticized the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for silence over problems such as extremism and terrorism in the world of Islam.

“It is regrettable that this organization keeps silence over serious challenges in the world of Islam especially Palestine, but respond immediately to the attack on the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran,” he said during his speech at the extraordinary meeting of the OIC foreign ministers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday.
He added that Iran is seeking to identify and punish perpetrators of the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
On January 2, Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite theologian cleric Nimr al-Nimr and in the evening of the same day crowds of furious Iranian demonstrators stormed the building of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the consulate office in Mashhad.
Saudi Arabia-Iran ties have been severed following the incident.
Araqchi pointed to the nuclear talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) and said that the negotiations can be a “successful model” in order to settle crises in the world of Islam.
He also said that Iran’s foreign policy is based on reducing tension with the neighboring countries and boost unity and solidarity with the Islamic countries.
However, he said that it seems that some countries are not willing to reduce tension in the Middle East region.
The nuclear deal signed between Iran and the six major powers in July 2015 went into force on January 16.

--‘We do not want confrontation or escalation’--

Araqchi said, “We do not want confrontation or escalation.”
“It is our wish that this meeting will help us reduce tensions,” he added.
However, according to the Arab News, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir claimed that Iran remains responsible for all the unrest and conflict in the region.
Without mentioning Nimr al-Nimr, the OIC also condemned Iran’s statements on the execution of the cleric.
The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s first deputy prime minister and foreign minister. Kuwait is the president of the current session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers.
Among the attendees were foreign ministers from various member states, including Turkey’s Mevlut Cavusoglu, Qatar’s Khalid bin Mohammed Attiyah, Oman’s Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Indonesia's Retno Maraud and the UAE's Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
Other members present included Bahrain’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Khalifa, Pakistan’s Sartaj Aziz, Malaysia’s Anifah Aman, Morocco’s Mbarka Bouaida, Bangladesh’s Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and Dunya Maumoon of Maldives.


NA/PA