An extraordinary meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday denounced Iran's interference in the internal affairs of the states in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Somalia, as well as its continued support for terrorism. In a communiqué adopted at the end of the meeting held at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, the pan Islamic body called for denouncing the sectarian and denominational agenda as it carries destructive impacts and serious repercussions for the security and stability of the member states and for international peace and security. Ministers and senior officials from 37 member countries of the 57-member OIC attended the meeting, which was convened following a request from Saudi Arabia to discuss the repercussions of the attacks on its embassy and consulate in Iran. The meeting condemned the aggressions against the Saudi missions in Tehran and Mashhad, which constitute a flagrant violation of the Vienna Conventions and international law that guarantee the inviolability of diplomatic missions and respect for diplomatic missions accredited to any state in a clear and binding manner. The meeting also noted that these aggressions contravene the OIC Charter and the Charter of the United Nations, which call for promoting trust and fostering friendly relations, mutual respect and cooperation among member states, resolving conflicts through peaceful means, and abstaining from interfering in the internal affairs of states. The meeting supported the legislative and legal measures taken by Saudi Arabia to counter aggressions against its diplomatic and consular missions in Iran. It also called on member states and the international community to take serious and effective steps to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of such aggressions on diplomatic and consular missions in Iran in the future. The OIC roundly rejected Iran's inflammatory statements on the execution of judicial decisions against the perpetrators of terrorist crimes in the Kingdom, considering those statements as a blatant interference in the Kingdom's internal affairs and a contravention of the UN and OIC Charters. The meeting underscored the importance of reinforcing relations of good neighborliness among the member states for the best interests of peoples, consistent with the OIC Charter. It also supported all political efforts to achieve permanent settlement to conflicts among member states based on the charters of the UN and OIC, and international law. Meanwhile, Iran's delegation at the meeting rejected the communiqué, saying Tehran dissociates itself from it. The Lebanese delegation also announced that the country distances itself from the communiqué.
