“If the Saudis do anything ignorant, we will leave no area untouched except [holiest Islamic cities] Mecca and Medina,” Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan told the Lebanese TV channel Al Manar on Sunday.
“They think they can do something because they have an air force,” he added.
His remarks came in reaction to Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said on Tuesday any contest for influence between Tehran and Riyadh must take place “inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia”.
“We know that we are a main goal for the Iranian regime,” he said. “We will not wait until the battle becomes in Saudi Arabia but we will work to have the battle in Iran rather than in Saudi Arabia.”
Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s chief Armed Forces spokesman also dismissed bin Salman’s remarks against the Islamic Republic, stressing that Riyadh is implementing the hostile policies of the US and the Israeli regime in the region.
“There is nothing new with false claims made by some Saudi officials against Iran and independent countries in the region. Unfortunately, the Saudi regime carries out hostile measures against some Muslim countries in the region on behalf of the US and the Zionists,” Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said.
Jazayeri further added that Saudi Arabia’s destructive moves in Yemen and the shedding of the blood of its people as well as its role in the Manama regime’s crackdown against Bahrainis, and massive acts of terror in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan all point to the fact that the Zionists are interested in the continuation of regional conflicts, Press TV reported.
He emphasized that the Islamic Republic has put necessary steps on its agenda to counter such measures, including any terrorist move by Saudi Arabia, the US and the Zionists.
