Americas

Americas

UN says Saudi-Iran crisis won't hurt Syria talks

06 January 2016 00:57 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The latest developments after Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Tehran amid a dispute over Riyadh's execution of an opposition Shiite cleric and attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran, APA reports quoting AP.

The U.N. envoy for Syria says the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran "will not have any negative impact" on Syria peace talks set to begin later this month.

Staffan de Mistura says in a statement released Tuesday that there is "a clear determination on the Saudi side" that the regional tensions will not affect the political process that is expected to begin Jan. 25 in Geneva.

The statement was released after the envoy met with the Saudi foreign minister in Riyadh. De Mistura will visit Iran this week in an attempt to cool tempers on both sides. Saudi Arabia has severed diplomatic ties with Iran amid a dispute over Riyadh's execution of an opposition Shiite cleric.

The U.N. envoys says "we cannot afford to lose this momentum" on Syria.

Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Saudi Arabia is one of the leading backers of the rebels trying to topple him.