Esmail Baqaei, in response to a question from a Fars News Agency reporter, firmly rejected the alleged claims by the news agency regarding the content of the Saudi king’s letter, which was reportedly conveyed during the Saudi defense minister’s visit to Tehran.
Reuters had claimed in a report that Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, during his visit to Tehran last, delivered a message from King Salman of Saudi Arabia to Iran, urging Tehran to take US President Donald Trump’s offer to negotiate a nuclear agreement seriously because it presents a way to avoid the risk of war with Israel
On April 21, in response to a question about whether the Saudi defense minister’s visit to Iran was related to indirect Iran-US talks, Baqaei stated: “This visit had been planned in advance and coincided with the talks in Rome. This trip reflects the success of the neighborhood policy pursued by Iran over the years and demonstrates our belief that regional countries should be able to rely on each other’s capabilities and build mutual trust to move toward stability and safeguarding security in the Persian Gulf and West Asia.”
Baqaei had previously commented on similar cases, saying: “The news agency you mentioned has repeatedly violated professional journalism standards, reducing itself to part of a disinformation campaign against Iran and West Asian regional issues. On many occasions, it has produced and disseminated false, fabricated, and biased news about regional affairs and Iran.”
