Iran's Ambassador Denies Reduction of Relations Between Jordan and Iran

In the continuation of diplomatic tension between the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia, Iran's ambassador to Jordan announced one day after being summoned to the country's Foreign Ministry that no discussion regarding the reduction of relations between the two countries was raised during this meeting. Meanwhile, Iran's Minister of Interior ordered the identification of the main perpetrators and potential organizers behind the attack on Saudi diplomatic sites within two weeks, and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament called for accountability from those who failed to prevent this incident. Mojtaba Ferdowsipour, Iran's ambassador to Jordan, on Thursday, January 7, regarding his summons to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry and the objection of officials in that country to the attack on Saudi diplomatic sites in Iran, added: "I also emphasized in this meeting that Iran is committed and responsible for supporting diplomatic sites." He stressed that in this session, the issue of reducing the level of relations between Tehran and Amman, the capital of Jordan, was not discussed. Jordan had summoned the Iranian ambassador on Wednesday in protest against the recent attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran. According to Jordan's state news agency, during this summons, Jordanian Foreign Ministry officials also protested against what they called Iran's interference in Arab countries' affairs. In recent days, following the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran, which led to the severing of diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran, Bahrain, Sudan, and Djibouti have cut their diplomatic relations with Iran. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates has downgraded its diplomatic relations with Tehran to the level of chargé d'affaires, and Kuwait and Qatar have also recalled their ambassadors from Iran, but did not mention any change in the level of their diplomatic relations with Tehran. On the other hand, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, in a letter to Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary, called for immediate and expedited attention to the case of the attack on the Saudi embassy and consulate. In this context, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran's Minister of Interior, also instructed his security deputy on Wednesday to form a committee consisting of the judiciary, Ministry of Intelligence, police, and Tehran's governorate to identify the main perpetrators and potential organizers behind the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran within two weeks and to announce the results of a comprehensive investigation in this regard. Meanwhile, according to IRNA news agency, Mohammad Hassan Abutalebi, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, on Wednesday emphasized the need for a "decisive response" to the attackers of the Saudi embassy and called for accountability from those who "failed to prevent" this incident. The state newspaper Iran and some other media criticized the police for not responding to the attackers of the Saudi embassy and consulate on Monday. On the same day, Hossein Ali Amiri, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, also stated that this ministry had given the necessary instructions to the police to prevent potential incidents. Hossein Jabir Ansari, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also mentioned the police's responsibilities regarding the protection of diplomatic sites, stating that there was "negligence" in this incident. In response to these criticisms, Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, the police spokesman, said that "people cannot be hit too often; the last resort is a coercive method." The warning from the deputy commander of the IRGC about the "collapse" of Saudi Arabia. In recent days, several officials of the Islamic Republic, including Es'hagh Jahangiri, the first vice president, have described Saudi Arabia's action in severing relations with Iran as "pretexting" and stated that "Saudi Arabia will suffer from this action." In this context, the deputy commander of the IRGC also described Saudi Arabia's severing of relations with Iran as "hasty, illogical, and rushed" and stated that the government of that country follows "a policy devoid of logic." According to ISNA news agency, Hossein Salami added: "There are ambiguous prospects ahead on the path that Al Saud has taken; if Al Saud does not correct this path, it will soon face complete collapse and decline in the coming years." Meanwhile, Ahmad Alam al-Huda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, also stated that the severing of relations with Saudi Arabia "not only does not harm the country but also brings joy." According to Mehr news agency, he added: "History will record that this nation was so free, pure, sincere, and honest in its Islamic and revolutionary stance that American and Israeli mercenaries could not cope with this nation and left." Previously, Abdolreza Davari, a supporter of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also referred to the "passivity" of Hassan Rouhani's government towards Saudi Arabia, calling the attack on the embassy "a legitimate and revolutionary act." Some conservative members of parliament, including Hamid Rasai, Hossein Naqvi Hosseini, and Mehdi Hashemi, along with several conservative media, protested against the Iranian president's statement on Sunday condemning both the attack on the embassy and consulate and the execution of Sheikh Nimr, considering the "weak diplomacy" of Hassan Rouhani's government towards Saudi Arabia as the cause of the attack on that country's embassy.