Iran proposes to Pakistan for an Islamic coalition of peace

Iran has expressed reservations regarding former army chief General (retd) Raheel Sharif’s appointment as head of Saudi military alliance, stating the country is not ‘satisfied’ with the decision, nor has it accepted the same.

Addressing the media, Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost admitted Pakistan had contacted Iranian officials before issuing the NOC to Gen (retd) Raheel. “But it did not indicate that Iran was satisfied with this decision or it had accepted the same,” IRNA quoted Honardoost as saying.
He added that Tehran informed Islamabad it would not become a part of any alliance such as the “military alliance” nor was Iran offered to do so. Honardoost suggested all important Islamic countries should come together to “form a coalition of peace to resolve their issues rather forming a controversial military alliance.”
Both Saudi Arabia and Iran are at odds over these hotspots in the Middle East. And because of these complexities, Pakistan was reluctant to take sides. Against this backdrop, questions are now being raised as to what were the circumstances that prompted the government to change its policy on the issue.
Officials familiar with the development told The Express Tribune that Riyadh has agreed to incorporate Pakistan’s suggestions in order to make the alliance broad-based and dispel the impression about its sectarian outlook.
Gen (retd) Raheel has already conveyed to Saudi authorities that he should be given complete freedom on how to run the alliance. He is also thought to have mooted the idea of inclusion of Iran into the military alliance.
One official said Pakistan had informed Iran about its decision of allowing Raheel to lead the alliance. For this purpose, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz travelled to Tehran in February and took the Iranian leadership into confidence.
Tehran is wary of the Saudi-led alliance, though. In late January, Allaudin Boroujerdi, the head of Iranian parliament’s committee on national security and foreign policy, visited Pakistan and when asked whether his country would join the Saudi alliance, he had alleged that the Saudi move was only meant to ‘kill innocent people in Yemen’. “Therefore, no one would like to become a part of such a coalition.” he told a news conference in Islamabad.