“US-Saudi Partnership Stoking Instability, Insecurity in Region”

In a Monday statement, Bahram Qassemi rejected recent anti-Iran comments by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a meeting with the Saudi foreign minister in Riyadh.

“What the US secretary of state describes as Washington’s partnership with Saudi Arabia is a partnership aimed at triggering instability and war as well as promoting arms races and extremism based on the adventurism of certain novice and bellicose Saudi politicians.”

“Such a move has, so far, had destructive consequences such as the perpetuation of violence, animosity and distrust among the regional countries as well as the creation of long-running crises, insecurity and instability in the region,” he said.

“As long as this unholy expansionist partnership exists, the regional nations will barely savour the taste of security and tranquility along with human and economic development.”

“The foreign ministers of the United States and Saudi Arabia will realize the meaning and outcome of their so-called partnership once they look at the deplorable humanitarian situation in Yemen and the extremism and terrorism in the region,” Qassemi added.

“What the US secretary of state has said about the Islamic Republic of Iran’s role and presence in some regional countries is just a rehash of baseless claims,” the spokesman said.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s advisory role in the two neighbouring countries comes at the request of their legitimate governments and is in line with fighting terrorism in the region, and this support will continue as long as the two governments need such help to combat terror,” Qassemi underlined.

He also touched upon the allegation that Iran is meddling in Yemen.

“The erroneous and false claim made again regarding Yemen is not true and is only aimed at deflecting the attention of the international public opinion from the crimes committed by Saudi Arabia in its aggression against Yemen. It is just a worthless claim geared to the perpetuation of Saudi Arabia’s warmongering, its aggression against Yemen, and the destructive and destabilising presence of foreign powers in the region.”

During his first tour of the Middle East as secretary of state, Pompeo rehashed false allegations against Iran and repeated Washington’s threat of quitting the Iran nuclear deal if the accord is not fixed.