Iran’s Foreign Ministry Dismisses Saudi FM’s “Insulting” Remarks

“It is Saudi Arabia, which has been the breeding ground for the emergence and growth of terrorism in the region over the past years,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Tuesday.

He added that Saudi Arabia has been carrying out an inconclusive act of military aggression against Yemen and committed war crimes against the defenseless people of the impoverished country for nearly two years.

Jubeir’s justifications for Al Saud’s brutal attacks against Yemeni women, children and civilians show that Riyadh has suffered a heavy defeat against the Yemenis’ strong determination to advance their objectives in the region.

Qassemi emphasized that the Saudi foreign minister’s ceaseless blame games cannot erase the history of creation and spread of extremism and deviant schools of thought in Saudi Arabia with the support of Al Saud.

He added that Takfiri terrorism, which is inspired by Saudi Wahhabism, has resulted in the loss of countless innocent lives and huge destruction of property in West Asia and North Africa.

The Iranian spokesperson reiterated the Islamic Republic’s principled policy on good neighborliness in the region and said the improvement of relations with neighboring states has always been among Iran’s priorities.

“We have taken appropriate steps over the recent years to normalize and improve relations with our neighbors and regard Saudi’s overt and covert acts of obstructionism as the main obstacle in the path of establishing a secure and stable region,” Qassemi pointed out.

Speaking at a joint press conference with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Riyadh on Tuesday, Jubeir claimed that Iran’s meddling in the internal affairs of the countries in the Middle East was the root cause of regional distress and instability.

He also claimed that Iran was planting terrorist cells in Saudi Arabia and the region in spite of Riyadh’s efforts to establish good relations with Tehran.

The Saudi minister further pointed to Riyadh’s war on Yemen and said the Saudi military aggression against the impoverished country had been in response to a request by the former Yemeni government.

Saudi Arabia has been engaged in the deadly campaign against Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to bring back Yemen’s former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, to power and undermine the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The Saudi war has so far claimed the lives of at least 11,400 Yemenis, and taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.