Iran accuses Saudis of ‘sectarian hate-mongering’

In this Monday, Jan. 4, 2016 file photo, Iraqi Shiite protesters chant slogans against the Saudi government as they hold posters showing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed in Saudi Arabia last week, in Najaf, Iraq. Diplomatic tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which began with the kingdom’s execution of al-Nimr and later saw attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic, have seen countries around the world respond. AP File Photo

UNITED NATIONS, United States—Iran told the United Nations on Friday that it does not want to escalate tensions in the Middle East, even as it took a swipe at Saudi Arabia for “sectarian hate-mongering.”

READ: Saudi embassy attack may backfire on Iran hardliners

Saudi Arabia was “spreading delusional hype about Iran” after failing to derail the nuclear deal reached with world powers, Tehran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“We have no desire or interest in escalation of tension in our neighborhood,” Zarif said in the letter, obtained by AFP.

Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday after angry protesters ransacked and set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran over the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

READ: Saudi severs ties with Iran

The tensions between the Sunni and Shiite powers have reverberated across the Middle East and the Muslim world, complicating efforts to resolve conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

“Iran has called for Islamic unity in the face of Saudi sectarian hate-mongering,” Zarif wrote.

The foreign minister called for unity to confront extremists and said Riyadh must make a “crucial choice” to either “continue supporting extremist terrorists” or “play a constructive role in promoting regional stability.”

Iran and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly accused each other of backing extremist groups who are wreaking chaos in the Middle East.

Zarif accused Riyadh of waging a “senseless aerial campaign targeting the people of Yemen” and of thwarting efforts to reach a ceasefire and begin political negotiations to end the conflict there.

A Saudi-led coalition is backing Yemen’s government in its war against Iran-backed Shiite rebels who seized the capital Sanaa in September 2014.