Dhaka reiterates condemnation

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned the attacks on Saudi missions in Iran earlier this month and denounced Tehran's regional "interference".

Dhaka earlier condemned the attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, has fully endorsed the OIC joint communiqué issued yesterday in Jeddah saying such attacks are clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali attended the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers at the headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat on Thursday, reiterated Bangladesh's condemnation in such attacks and urged Iran to take urgent necessary measures to stop recurrence of such incidents, said foreign ministry officials.

The 57-member OIC said it "rejects and condemns Iran's inflammatory statements" over the executions, "considering those statements a blatant interference in the internal affairs" of Saudi Arabia, according to an OIC press release available on its website.

Iran, however, "rejected" the communiqué while Lebanon also "distanced itself" from the OIC statement.

The statement denounced "Iran's interference in the internal affairs of the states of the region and other member states including Bahrain, Yemen and Syria and Somalia and its continued support for terrorism".

The delegation of Iran led by its Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended the OIC meeting but his country "declared its rejection of the communiqué", stating that it dissociates itself from it."

The Lebanese delegation also "distances itself" from the communiqué, the statement added.

Iran sacked a senior security official over his failure to stop the attack on Riyadh's embassy, while Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday said the attack was against Islam.

But Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir charged at Thursday's meeting that Iran respects neither Islam nor the charter of the OIC.

At the start of Thursday's meeting, OIC Secretary General Iyad Madani called for "building bridges of understanding and restoring mutual trust" through dialogues.

The 12-point statement expressed full support for the efforts of the KSA and all member states to combat terrorism.

The Saudi missions came under attacks after the KSA executed a Shia cleric as he was convicted of terrorism offences.