ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates: Muslim countries need to take the lead in fighting terrorism, Prince Turki Al-Faisal said on Sunday.

The former Saudi ambassador also said the recently announced Islamic counterterrorism alliance of 34 nations should have been created sooner.

Prince Turki’s comments come as the kingdom hosts an 18-day military exercise with 20 members of the new alliance, which includes Pakistan, Sudan, Jordan and neighboring Gulf states. Defense Ministers from the coalition of Muslim-majority countries are scheduled to hold their first meeting in Saudi Arabia sometime in March.

“I consider this a leading and commendable step that should have happened sooner and thank God it has taken place,” he told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s no secret, unfortunately, that in our world today the majority of terrorism-related acts, its victims are Muslim,” he said. “Therefore, it is our responsibility as Muslim countries to play the primary role in fighting this disease that has impacted us all.”

Notably absent from the coalition is Iran, as well as Syria and Iraq, which are battling to win back swaths of territory controlled by the Daesh group.

Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iran are fiercely divided on a host of issues and support opposite sides of the wars in Yemen and Syria.

Relations worsened after Iranian mobs attacked Saudi missions in Tehran and Mashhad in December, forcing Saudi Arabia to sever its ties with Iran. The mobs were protesting the execution on the kingdom of Shiite cleric Nimr Al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia.

Prince Turki said “the ball is in the Iranian court” when it comes to any hope of improving ties.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has expressed publicly that Iran’s interference in the affairs of Arab states is a situation that is unacceptable,” said Prince Turki, who held ambassador posts to the US, the UK and Ireland after a long stint as intelligence chief.