AL to discuss Iran ‘violations’

CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo on Sunday at Saudi Arabia’s request for an extraordinary meeting to discuss alleged “violations” committed by Iran in the region.
The Arab League meeting comes as tensions have been rising between long-standing rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, including over League member Lebanon. Saudi Arabia and Iran, the predominant power, have for decades stood on opposing sides of conflicts in the Middle East including in Syria and Yemen.
A diplomatic source said Riyadh was seeking to adopt a condemnation of “Iran and Arab militias linked to this country”. A committee is to prepare a draft resolution on Iran to be discussed later by all ministers.
The meeting is also expected to address a Yemen rebel missile that was intercepted near Riyadh on November 4, and a pipeline fire in Bahrain on November 10. Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has accused Iran of “direct military aggression” against the kingdom by supplying the Yemen rebels with ballistic missiles, but Tehran has denied any involvement.
In its request for the meeting, Saudi Arabia referred to those two incidents and “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 a memo seen.