Saudi Arabia Main Supporter of Terrorism: Iran
TEHRAN/SANAA (Dispatches) – Iran on Thursday hit out at Saudi Arabia for distorting facts and shifting the blame for its crimes, after the Saudi king made accusations against the Islamic Republic in a UN address.
King Salman alleged in a speech Wednesday to the UN General Assembly that Iran had "targeted” oil facilities in the kingdom last year. He also accused Iran of "expansionist activities” and "terrorism.”
Iran’s foreign ministry hit back on Thursday. "Saudi Arabia has for years tried to escape realities and not answer for its crimes by adopting a policy of projecting the blame and distorting the facts,” spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.
Riyadh and Washington accuse Tehran of involvement in September 2019 attacks on Saudi oil facilities claimed by Yemen’s Houthi fighters. They also allege Tehran arms the Houthis for attacks on the kingdom. Iran denies the charges.
The Islamic Republic, for its part, is strongly critical of Saudi Arabia for committing war crimes in Yemen, where the kingdom leads a military invasion.
In the statement, Khatibzadeh called Riyadh "the main financial and logistical supporter of terrorism in the region” and the "origin of takfiri terrorist thinking.”
"Continuous field and political defeats in Yemen have brought Saudi Arabia to delusion,” Khatibzadeh said.
The foreign ministry spokesman called the kingdom a "wretched creature” among Arab countries over its support for U.S. pressure on Iran and its attempts to expand ties with the occupying regime of Israel.
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic following 2016 demonstrations outside its missions in Iran after the kingdom executed top Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
The United States has waged a campaign of "maximum pressure” against Iran since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions and Saudi Arabia has supported them.
Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations joined voices to dismiss King Salman’s accusations against Iran as a "blame game” aimed at "diverting world attention away from Riyadh’s dark record of supporting terrorism.”
Majid Takht Ravanchi said Saudi Arabia is "inspiring terrorism” and being an "instability factor” in the region”.
"It has become completely clear today that Saudi Wahhabi ideology was the main source of inspiration for the most dangerous terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and this country is seen as the key sponsor of these groups with its petrodollars.”
On Friday, a senior Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah official has asked Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to settle scores with Iran if he dares to face the Islamic Republic directly.
Muhammad-Ali al-Houthi, the chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, made the remarks in a sarcastic tweet on Friday.
"King Salman well knows the Yemenis are only fighting the Americans who are using the Saudi soil and U.S.-made weapons to wage a war against the Yemeni nation,” al-Houthi said.
"If the Saudi king has scores to settle with Iran, he’d better face the country directly,” he added.
The Yemeni official made the remarks in reaction to the Saudi king’s virtual address to the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations, in which he said Riyadh would not take its hands off the Yemeni nation until it "gets rid of Iran’s domination”, Press TV reported.
King Salman alleged in a speech Wednesday to the UN General Assembly that Iran had "targeted” oil facilities in the kingdom last year. He also accused Iran of "expansionist activities” and "terrorism.”
Iran’s foreign ministry hit back on Thursday. "Saudi Arabia has for years tried to escape realities and not answer for its crimes by adopting a policy of projecting the blame and distorting the facts,” spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.
Riyadh and Washington accuse Tehran of involvement in September 2019 attacks on Saudi oil facilities claimed by Yemen’s Houthi fighters. They also allege Tehran arms the Houthis for attacks on the kingdom. Iran denies the charges.
The Islamic Republic, for its part, is strongly critical of Saudi Arabia for committing war crimes in Yemen, where the kingdom leads a military invasion.
In the statement, Khatibzadeh called Riyadh "the main financial and logistical supporter of terrorism in the region” and the "origin of takfiri terrorist thinking.”
"Continuous field and political defeats in Yemen have brought Saudi Arabia to delusion,” Khatibzadeh said.
The foreign ministry spokesman called the kingdom a "wretched creature” among Arab countries over its support for U.S. pressure on Iran and its attempts to expand ties with the occupying regime of Israel.
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic following 2016 demonstrations outside its missions in Iran after the kingdom executed top Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
The United States has waged a campaign of "maximum pressure” against Iran since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions and Saudi Arabia has supported them.
Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations joined voices to dismiss King Salman’s accusations against Iran as a "blame game” aimed at "diverting world attention away from Riyadh’s dark record of supporting terrorism.”
Majid Takht Ravanchi said Saudi Arabia is "inspiring terrorism” and being an "instability factor” in the region”.
"It has become completely clear today that Saudi Wahhabi ideology was the main source of inspiration for the most dangerous terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and this country is seen as the key sponsor of these groups with its petrodollars.”
On Friday, a senior Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah official has asked Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to settle scores with Iran if he dares to face the Islamic Republic directly.
Muhammad-Ali al-Houthi, the chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, made the remarks in a sarcastic tweet on Friday.
"King Salman well knows the Yemenis are only fighting the Americans who are using the Saudi soil and U.S.-made weapons to wage a war against the Yemeni nation,” al-Houthi said.
"If the Saudi king has scores to settle with Iran, he’d better face the country directly,” he added.
The Yemeni official made the remarks in reaction to the Saudi king’s virtual address to the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations, in which he said Riyadh would not take its hands off the Yemeni nation until it "gets rid of Iran’s domination”, Press TV reported.