Sunni-Shia Tensions 'Biggest Threat to World Security': Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javed Zarif

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Minister says regional powers should work together on sectarian divide and Syria conflict, but accuses Sunni Arab countries of 'fanning flames'

Tension between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims is the biggest threat to world security, Iran's foreign minister said in comments published on Monday, accusing Sunni Arab countries of "fanning the flames" of sectarian conflict.

The increasingly sectarian civil war in Syria has drawn in regional powers with Shi'ite Iran backing President Bashar al-Assad and Sunni Gulf Arab states and mainly Sunni Turkey helping the rebels. The conflict threatens to spill over into countries split between Sunnis and Shi'ites such as Lebanon and Iraq.

The sectarian tension is "the most serious security threat not only to the region but to the world at large", Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the BBC. » | Reuters | Monday, November 11, 2013