Johnson’s remarks on Saudi Arabia, Iran not govt’s views: Downing Street | World News - Hindustan Times
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Johnson’s remarks on Saudi Arabia, Iran not govt’s views: Downing Street

ByAgencies, London
Dec 08, 2016 09:08 PM IST

Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson has accused Saudi Arabia and Iran of engaging in “proxy wars” in the Middle East but the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday he was not representing the government’s views.

Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson has accused Saudi Arabia and Iran of engaging in “proxy wars” in the Middle East but the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday he was not representing the government’s views.

File photo of British foreign secretary Boris Johnson with Slovakian foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak and Spanish foreign minister Alfonso Dastis Quecedo at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on December 7, 2016.(AFP)
File photo of British foreign secretary Boris Johnson with Slovakian foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak and Spanish foreign minister Alfonso Dastis Quecedo at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on December 7, 2016.(AFP)

Johnson was seen in a video clip telling a conference in Rome last week that it was a “tragedy” that politicians in the Middle East were “twisting and abusing religion” to advance their political objectives.

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Such public criticism of British ally Saudi Arabia was seen by some commentators as a diplomatic blunder by Johnson, who has been in the job less than six months.

His comments, filmed and posted on The Guardian’s website, came as British Prime Minister Theresa May returned from a summit in Bahrain where she pledged to strengthen ties with Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia.

“There are politicians who are twisting and abusing religion and different strains of the same religion in order to further their own political objectives,” Johnson told the Med 2 conference.

“That’s one of the biggest political problems in the whole region. And the tragedy for me - and that’s why you have these proxy wars being fought the whole time in that area - is that there’s not strong enough leadership in the countries themselves.”

Johnson said there were “not enough big characters” willing to “reach out beyond their Sunni or Shia” group. “That’s why you’ve got the Saudis, Iran, everybody, moving in and puppeteering and playing proxy wars,” he added.

Downing Street, however, said Johnson was not representing the government’s views on Saudi Arabia. Helen Bower, the prime minister’s spokeswoman, said Johnson would stick to the government’s line when he visited Saudi ministers this weekend.

Saudi Arabia is “a vital partner for the UK, particularly on counter-terrorism and, when you look at what is happening in the region, we are supportive of the Saudi-led coalition which is working in support of the legitimate government in Yemen against Houthi rebels”, Bower said.

Asked if Prime Minister Theresa May had any sympathy with Johnson’s view of the Yemen conflict, she said: “I’ve set out what the PM views are, and those are the foreign secretary’s views, they are not the government’s views on Saudi and its role in the region.”

Britain’s foreign ministry also said Johnson had voiced support for Saudi Arabia on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. “As the foreign secretary made very clear on Sunday, we are allies with Saudi Arabia and support them in their efforts to secure their borders and protect their people,” a spokesman said.

Addressing a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Bahrain on Wednesday, May reaffirmed British support for traditional allies in the region and said Britain would help “push back against Iran’s aggressive regional actions”.

In a joint statement, GCC states and Britain agreed to a “strategic partnership” and said they “oppose and will work together to counter Iran’s destabilising activities”.

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