Speaking at a joint press conference with the visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said “the execution of the pious and reformer martyr Sheikh Baqir Nimr al-Nimr cannot be justified by any means.”
“Sheikh al-Nimr spent his whole life inviting people to Islam through peaceful dialogue, engagement and use of civil capacities and he was truly opposed to armed activities or assassinations,” he added.
Zarif reiterated that the death penalty applied to the great scholar is not defensible; “unfortunately, over the past two years Saudi Arabia has rejected all measures taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran in line with formation of agreement and brotherhood in a region threatened with terrorism.”
Emphasizing that terrorism mainly affects the states who inflame the problem, Zarif noted “sad to say, our neighbors in Saudi Arabia have moved against the stream by opposing the reaching of an agreement between Iran and the West as well as taking steps to bring down global oil prices.”
