WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry called the Iranian and Saudi Arabian foreign ministers on Monday to urge calm after the dramatic breakdown of relations between Tehran and Riyadh.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, US officials said he reached out to his counterparts Mohammad Javad Zarif and Adel Al-Jubeir as the crisis triggered by the Saudi execution of a Shiite cleric deepens.
“We are urging calm and de-escalation. The situation needs to be calmed,” Official said.
The United States itself has no formal diplomatic relations with Iran, but has been developing a closer working relationship since signing a deal to limit Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in July last year.
The United States is traditionally a much closer partner to Saudi Arabia, but was angered last week when Riyadh chose to begin 2016 with a mass execution of prisoners, including a respected Shiite cleric accused of inciting protests.(USA Today)