Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir gestures during a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in Riyadh January 9, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

The execution of Nimr al-Nimr earlier this month touched off anti-Saudi demonstrations in many Shiite countries including Iran, where demonstrators ransacked and set fire to the Saudi embassy.

Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Shiite-dominated Tehran the day after the attack and was followed by a number of its Sunni Arab allies including Bahrain and Sudan. Other Arab countries downgraded ties or recalled their envoys to Tehran.

The dispute between the Middle East’s two powers has raised fears of greater regional instability and concerns for peace efforts in Syria and Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and Iran support opposing sides.

The Arab League Chief Nabil al-Arabi addressed Arab League foreign ministers who gathered in Cairo for emergency talks requested by Riyadh on the dispute, which erupted after Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

In the meeting for the top Arab diplomats for talks on Saudi Arabia’s Diplomatic row with Iran, the Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi accused Tehran of “provocative acts”.

Arabi called on diplomats meeting at the group’s Cairo headquarters to “adopt a strong and clear common position calling on Iran to stop all forms of interference in the affairs of Arab nations”.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, present at Sunday’s talks, denounced Iranian statements “hostile to Saudi Arabia” that he said had “directly driven the attacks” on his country’s diplomatic missions.

Al-Jubeir accused Iran of interfering in Arab affairs and undermining regional security. “These attacks clearly reflect the approach that the Iranian policy is taking in our Arab region specifically … with its interference in the affairs of the (region’s) states and instigation of sectarian strife and shaking its security and stability,” said Jubeir.