Destructive Saudi policies lead nowhere: Iranian diplomat

Iran has said that Saudi Arabia’s “destructive” policies “lead nowhere”, and that a country bombing its southern neighbor is not in a position to talk about the Islamic Republic’s role in the region.

Having understood the Islamic Republic of Iran’s “constructive and stabilizing role,” the international community is calling for Iran’s participation in the international arena, but Saudi Arabia is “unfortunately the only country that is still looking at regional developments through a win-lose lens and is insisting on the removal of others,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said Monday, adding that the unconstructive approach is doomed to failure.

Afkham made the remarks in response to recent comments by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir who threatened to confront Iran if the Islamic Republic does not give up what he called “continuous aggression” against the kingdom.

“It is difficult to have positive relations” with Tehran “when Saudi Arabia and its people are the target of continuous aggression” by Iran, Jubeir alleged at a joint press conference Monday with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Riyadh.

Afkham described such remarks as indecent and non-diplomatic and said that such an approach has plagued some regional countries, including Yemen and Syria, with war and extremism.

The Saudi minister had also said that it was difficult to envision a role for Iran in finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis due to Tehran’s support for the Syrian government.

The Iranian official stressed that Jubeir, whose country has adopted a military and extremist approach toward regional crises, is not competent to determine Iran’s regional role.

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