The kiss that sent Saudi’s Iran ambassador home
Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs has discussed in two recent interviews the major points of contention remaining between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
In two interviews, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, addressed two major points of contention that have made it difficult for Iran and Saudi Arabia to begin holding constructive diplomatic discussions over their regional differences.
The first incident dates back to April 2014, when Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Iran, Abdulrahman Bin Groman Shahri, met Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani in Tehran. Rafsanjani, keen to build better relations with Saudi Arabia, shared pictures of the meeting on his personal website, including of the Saudi ambassador kissing Rafsanjani on the forehead during their greeting. The kiss caused a backlash on Twitter by Saudis.
