[Photo: Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir met UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura in Riyadh. Photograph: Mehmet Ali-Ozcan/AA]

Mustafa Çağlayan

NEW YORK (AA) – The United Nations’ special envoy for Syria and Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister met Tuesday amid concerns that an ongoing row between Iran and Saudi Arabia could threaten the Syria peace process.

Staffan de Mistura said after his meeting with Adel al-Jubeir in Riyadh that there was a “clear determination” on the Saudi side the tensions with Iran would not have any negative impact on efforts to end the five-year-old conflict in Syria, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York.

“Mistura added that we cannot afford to lose this momentum, despite what is going on in the region,” said Dujarric. Mistura is also set to visit Iran later this week.

Iran and Saudi Arabia, which support opposing sides of the conflict in Syria, play key roles in ongoing efforts to end fighting in the country.

Tensions between the regional rivals skyrocketed after Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed a prominent Shia cleric along with 46 others on Saturday after they were convicted of terrorism-related charges.

The UN wants to bring together Syria’s warring factions on Jan. 25 to begin peace talks in Geneva within the framework of a plan set out during three rounds of international talks to foster an end to the civil war.

On Dec. 18, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a UN-backed political process that would let Syrian factions form a transitional governing body in six months and to hold UN-supervised national elections within 18 months.

The Syrian civil war, now in its fifth year, has left more than 250,000 victims dead and made the country the world’s single-largest source of refugees and displaced persons, according to UN figures.