Top Arab diplomats rallied behind Saudi Arabia on Sunday in a dispute with Iran that has threatened to derail efforts to resolve Middle East conflicts including the war in Syria.
After meeting in Cairo for emergency talks requested by Riyadh, Arab League foreign ministers issued a joint statement denouncing the "hostile acts and provocations of Iran" in the dispute.
The diplomatic row erupted following Saudi Arabia's execution on January 2 of a prominent Shiite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, along with 46 others on terrorism charges.
The execution touched off anti-Saudi demonstrations in many Shiite countries including in Iran where demonstrators sacked and set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in second city Mashhad.