Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani heads to Istanbul Wednesday for a summit of Islamic countries which Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Turkey’s burgeoning ally, is also attending.
Rouhani and Salman, whose countries’ ties plummeted in January when Riyadh cut diplomatic relations, are to take part in an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit on Thursday and Friday.
The 80-year-old Sunni king arrived Monday in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeting him at the airport in a rare break of protocol.
Saudi Arabia cut its diplomatic relations with Iran after a rampaging mob set fire to its missions in Tehran and Mashhad, Iran’s second city, in protest at the execution by Riyadh of a prominent Shiite cleric.
The regional rivals have since accused each other of funding terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East.
Rouhani will make a speech at the Istanbul summit and hold bilateral meetings with some of the dozens of leaders attending, according to Parviz Esmaeili, a spokesman in the presidency’s office.
— AFP
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
