Iran Urges UK to Stop Selling Weapons to Saudi Aggressors

Mousavi made the remarks on Thursday in reaction to recent “hackneyed” accusations levelled by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

“Instead of launching a smear campaign against others, Britain must stop making mischief in regional issues, selling weapons to aggressors in Yemen, and participating in what the UN has approved as crime against humanity,” Mousavi said.

He slammed London’s pre-emptive move and rush to accuse Iran, without any evidence, of being involved in the Aramco incident in the early hours after the attack, but said this was not the first time the UK was doing it.

“The UK’s support for the aggressor side in the Yemeni war leaves no reason for public opinion to accept the delusive and one-sided accusations levelled by the British foreign secretary,” he added.

Mousavi further described the UK’s political and arms support for Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war as a key factor for the continuation of the aggression and carnage, and said, “Instead of accusing others, London must pressure its warmongering ally to end the destructive war as soon as possible.”

The spokesman said the UK foreign secretary’s move to raise the allegation right after Iran proposed its new initiative to resolve the regional disputes is meant to undermine the success of the plan.

“Britain had better stop meddling in regional nations’ affairs and allow them to find their own wise solution to put an end to the ongoing conflicts and tensions, mostly created as a result of foreign interference,” he went on to say.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns Mr Raab’s anti-Iran and one-sided allegations, which have not been approved by any independent body, and believes that such propaganda campaigns against Iran will get nowhere, and if not stopped immediately and corrected with honest and positive approaches, would seriously harm the two countries’ relations,” he concluded.

The UK Foreign Secretary on Wednesday once again blamed Iran for the September 14 attacks on Saudi oil refineries without providing any evidence for his claim.

The drone attacks against Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities run by the Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco were soon claimed by Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and their allies in the Yemeni army.

The unprecedented attack knocked out more than half of Saudi crude output, or five per cent of global supply, prompting Saudi and US officials to claim without any evidence that it probably originated from Iraq or Iran.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of carrying out the attack on Aramco installations. Tehran, however, has rejected the allegations, with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif saying Washington seems to be shifting from a failed campaign of “maximum pressure” to one of “maximum lying” and “deceit” against the Islamic Republic.

The E3 – Britain, France, and Germany – also issued a statement on the issue earlier this week, claiming that Iran must be behind the attacks as there were no other plausible explanations.