Jeddah - Al Maghrib Today
The Arab League will hold an extraordinary meeting next week to discuss violations committed by Iran in the region, according to news agencies.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates supported the Saudi request, which was also approved by Djibouti, the current chair of the pan-Arab bloc, Agence France Presse reported, citing a document shown to it diplomats on Sunday.
Reuters, quoting Egypt's MENA state news agency, said the "urgent meeting" of Arab League foreign ministers will be held in Cairo.
According to the memo cited by AFP, Saudi Arabia made the request following a missile attack from Yemen on Nov. 4. The missile targeting Riyadh was shot down by Saudi air defense forces.
A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, and it has accused the Iran-backed rebels of firing the missile.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later accused Iran of “direct military aggression” against the kingdom by supplying the rebels with ballistic missiles.
Iran has denied any involvement in the missile attack.
According to the memo, Saudi Arabia decried what it described as “sabotage” and “terrorism” over a pipeline fire in Bahrain on Friday that temporarily halted oil supplies from its territory.
Tehran also rejected any involvement in the incident.
In its request for the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, Saudi Arabia referred to those two incidents “in addition to the violations committed by Iran in the Arab region, which undermines security and peace, not only in the Arab region, but around the globe,” according to the memo.
The Arab League has 22 members, but Syria’s membership was suspended at the end of 2011 following months of brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations and an opposition movement supported by Gulf monarchies.
Source: arabnews