ISLAMABAD: Iran has expressed its reservations regarding the appointment of former army chief Gen (r) Raheel Sharif as head of the Saudi-led 39-nation Islamic military alliance, saying it is not ‘satisfied’ with the coalition.
“We are concerned about this issue… that it may impact the unity of Islamic countries,” Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost said.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted Honardoost as saying that Pakistan had contacted Iranian officials before issuing the no-objection certificate (NOC) to Gen Sharif to lead the Saudi alliance.
“But that does not indicate that Iran is satisfied with this decision or [that] it has accepted the same,” the envoy said.
The ambassador said Iran had conveyed its concerns to the Pakistani government.
He said Tehran had informed Islamabad that Iran would not become part of such a military alliance, adding that Iran had not been extended an offer to join a coalition of this sort.
He proposed that all important Islamic countries come together to form a “coalition of peace” in order to resolve their issues “rather [than] forming a controversial military alliance”.
Gen (r) Raheel Sharif is likely to assume command of the anti-terrorism alliance, being dubbed the ‘Muslim NATO’, this month.
Last month, the government decided “in principle” to allow the former army chief to head the Saudi-led military alliance, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had confirmed.
“It has been decided in principle that Gen (r) Raheel Sharif will go there [to Saudi Arabia] to lead the alliance,” the minister told a private news channel, putting to rest weeks of speculation. “The formal process in this regard has yet to be completed,” he said.
Asif said Saudi Arabia’s government had requested Pakistan to allow the former army chief to lead the alliance. When asked about whether Gen (r) Raheel had applied for an NOC, the minister said, “it is not needed after the two countries have come to an agreement.”
Maj Gen (r) Ijaz Awan, a defence analyst and close associate of the COAS also said that the government had issued an NOC to the former army chief to join the alliance after an understanding was reached between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the matter.
The appointment of Gen (r) Raheel Sharif as the leader of the military alliance sparked debate over how the move will impact Pakistan’s foreign policy, and whether it was fully sanctioned by parliament.
Pakistan had initially found itself in the crosshairs of Middle Eastern politics as Saudi Arabia named it as part of its newly formed military alliance of Muslim countries meant to combat terrorism, without first getting its consent.
However, after initial ambiguity, the government had confirmed its participation in the alliance, but had said that the scope of its participation would be defined after Riyadh shared the details of the coalition it was assembling.
Gen (r) Raheel Sharif last March accompanied the prime minister to Raad al-Shamal, the first military exercise of the alliance in which Pakistani troops also participated.
The coalition was envisaged to serve as a platform for security cooperation, including provision of training, equipment and troops, and involvement of religious scholars for dealing with extremism.
The Saudi government had surprised many countries by announcing that it had forged a coalition for coordinating and supporting military operations against terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.
Iran was absent from the states named as participants, as proxy conflicts between the two regional powers rage from Syria to Yemen. agencies
