TEHRAN – Russian Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan has dismissed claims by the Saudi kingdom that Iran is a threat to regional countries, noting even Iran has been seeking to reach out to Arab countries including Saudi Arabia.

“So far, we have witnessed that Iranian Foreign Minister [Mohammad Javad Zarif] has announced readiness to have cooperation and constructive relations with the regional countries and Zarif has even announced that Iran is ready to have constructive dialogues with Saudi Arabia,” Dzhagaryan said in an interview with Mehr news agency published on Sunday.

U.S. President Donald Trump visited Riyadh on May 20-21. During the visit the U.S. and Saudi Arabia signed 110 billion dollars arms deal, one of the greatest arms deal in history. While in Riyadh both Trump and King Salam claimed that Iran is supporting violent extremism.

“From Russia’s point of view, Iran poses no threat against Saudi Arabia and other regional countries, so these countries [in the region] do not need to be armed by the U.S.” the ambassador noted, adding purchasing arms is not necessary as it does not help regional stability.

Dzhagaryan said that Iran has never supported terrorism and is instead a victim of terrorism.

The diplomat said Iran has emerged as a great force against terrorism, noting Iran is playing an important role in establishing stability in the region.

Elsewhere, he said that Russia is very happty that it is cooperating with Iran in the war against terrorists in Syria.

Iran and Russia have close stance on the Syrian crisis, he added.

Commenting on the process of the Astana talks on Syria, Dzhagaryan said the talks will not be successful without involvement of Iran and Turkey.

Iran, Russia and Turkey have brokered talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, between the warring sides in Syria in effort to find a solution to the long-running conflict in the country.

The new round of the Astana talks will start on May 3.

Previous rounds of Astana talks were held in January, February and March.

Iran’s missile tests do not violate JCPOA 

The Russian ambassador also said Iran has been showing strong commitment to its obligations in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - the official name for the international nuclear deal - and that its missile tests do not violate the nuclear deal.

The UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the nuclear deal between Iran and great powers including Russia, calls upon Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.” 

NA/PA