Arab League to meet in Cairo to discuss Iran at Saudi request

CAIRO – 18 November 2017: The Arab League will hold an extraordinary meeting on Sunday at the request of Saudi Arabia to discuss "violations" committed by Iran in the region, Extra News channel revealed.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates approved the Saudi request, which was also approved by Djibouti, the current chair of the pan-Arab bloc, according to a memorandum seen by AFP on Sunday.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is set to meet with his Djiboutian counterpart Mohamed Ali Youssef ahead of the extraordinary meeting to arrange its agenda.
Tensions have been rising between Saudi Arabia and Iran in recent months, particularly due to the issues of Lebanon and Qatar.

On June 5, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Libya and Yemen decided to cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar over its ties with Iran as well as allegations that it supports terrorism. Ports and airspaces were cut off to Qatari vessels.

Since then, Kuwait has played the role of mediator to put an end to this rift. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held several meetings with the disputed parties, but the discussions have not yet led to a settlement.

The Arab countries listed 13 demands to be met by Qatar, including severing ties with terrorist groups, closing down the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera satellite channel, downgrading ties with arch-rival Iran and the closure of the Turkish air base in Qatar.