Riyadh Needs to Return to Normal Ties with Tehran: Official

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a special assistant to Iran’s Parliament speaker, said Riyadh needs to change its approach.

“We always welcome constructive relations and good neighbourliness with Saudi Arabia and believe the Saudi regime has no way but to return to normal relations with Tehran,” said the official.

“However, current Saudi rulers preferred the incorrect option of war to a political solution by overtly and covertly supporting terrorists and harmed regional security,” he said.

“We hope we will see a change in the behaviour of Riyadh rulers toward regional security and stability,” he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir-Abdollahian touched upon the US sanctions on Iran.

“Of course, sanctions have negative impacts, but, first, Iran is a great country which is full of resources and has creative and hardworking people,” he said.

“Secondly, the US would be the first to be harmed by the policy of imposing sanctions on Iran because it (the US) has to spend a lot to maintain the sanctions and definitely will not be able to preserve them,” said the top official.

“The US should talk to great Iranian people with a language of respect and change its behaviour,” he noted.

Amir-Abdollahian also touched upon the United States’ interference in the region.

“The ongoing disputes in the West Asia region as well as parts of Latin America and Asia emanate from the United States’ military and political interventions in order to get its hands on massive energy and mine resources around the world,” he noted.

“Unfortunately, in the West Asia region, too, just two or three Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, are have aligned themselves with colonial powers’ inappropriate and secessionist policies and played a negative role in regional developments in recent years,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

The official further referred to the Zionist regime of Israel’s destructive behaviour in the region.

He highlighted the need for a democratic solution, i.e., holding a referendum, among Palestinian people.

He said Iran has had this solution registered at the UN, adding the plebiscite should bring together “all original Palestinian people, including Jews, Christians and Muslims.”

He also said the pace of regional and international developments is very fast.

“Due to this complicated and fast-paced situation, the pace of developments is several times as fast as that of political, regional and international solutions,” he said.