Boris Johnson accused Saudi Arabia of engaging in ‘proxy wars’ in the Middle East, and Middle East politicians of ‘twisting and abusing religion for political gain’, adding that Iran and Saudi Arabia were ‘puppeteering’ because of a lack of strong leadership in the region. Our foreign secretary said, ‘There are politicians who are twisting and abusing religion and different strains of the same religion in order to further their own political objectives. That's one of the biggest political problems in the whole region. That's why you have these proxy wars being fought in that area. There is not strong enough leadership in the countries themselves.’ He added that there was a lack of ‘big characters’ in the Middle East who are willing to reach out beyond their Sunni or Shi’a group and bring people together.