Ahmadinejad receives invite to Saudi summit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has received an invitation to participate in an Islamic summit to be held this month in Saudi Arabia, state media said on Saturday.

Iranian News Agency IRNA quoted Muhammad Sheikhan from the Department of Communications and Information as saying that Saudi had invited the Iranian president to participate in the emergency Islamic summit scheduled to be held in Mecca.

The invitation was presented to Ahmadinejad by the Saudi ambassador in Tehran, with Sheikhan adding that the latest regional developments would be discussed during the summit.

An Iranian official said the president had not yet made a decision about his participation in the summit.

Last month, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz called an exceptional meeting of the Conference of Islamic Solidarity in Mecca on 15 August, reportedly to address risks of “sedition” threatening Muslim countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that if the conference were to take place the Saudi-backed crackdown in Bahrain should top the agenda.

While Saudi Arabia and Iran have long-standing grievances, Ahmadinejad attended a similar conference in Mecca in 2005 and made an official visit to the kingdom in 2007.

Diplomatic tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia intensified in June this year after Saudi authorities executed at least four Iranians for drug trafficking.

IRNA reported that the Saudi charge d'affaires in Tehran was summoned to Iran’s foreign ministry after the event.

(UPI, Al-Akhbar)