Saudi king has no right to accuse Iran: aide
TEHRAN - Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the special aide to the speaker of the Iranian Parliament on international affairs, responded on Thursday to the remarks by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who has recently called for a decisive stance against Iran.
“The Saudi King, invading Yemen & aiding the DAESH's American terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon & Yemen, has no right to accuse Iran,” the special aide said in a tweet on Thursday.
Abdollahian was responding to the recent remarks by King Salman against Iran.
In his first public remarks since he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September via videolink, the 84-year-old Saudi ruler accused Iran of interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, sponsoring terrorism, and pursuing weapons of mass destruction.
“The Kingdom affirms the seriousness of the Iranian regime’s regional project, and rejects its interventions in internal affairs of other countries and its sponsorship of terrorism. The Kingdom calls [on] the international community to take a firm stance towards the Iranian regime, as this firm stance must guarantee that Iranian regime is prevented from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, the development of its ballistic missile program and threatening peace and security,” King Salman said.
He added, “We condemn the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi militia for violating international laws and customary rules by launching bomb-laden UAVs and ballistic missiles towards civilians in the Kingdom.”
The Saudi King made the remarks during an inauguration session of the works of the 1st year of the 8th session of the Saudi Shura Council.
Abdollahian said these remarks were made to serve the interests of Israel.
“It's better for Riyadh to stop serving Israel & respect the neighbors. Iran has always been advocate of the neighbors' & region's peace/security,” pointed out the special aide.
In October, Amir-Abdollahian said Saudi Arabia is pushing the United States into going to war with Iran.
“The Persian Gulf littoral states have always welcomed Iranian initiatives on regional cooperation. But, KSA & one other state have repeatedly provoked the US to wage war against Iran. Iran is a reliable and stable state. Israel and America HAVE NO ROOM in the future of the region,” Abdollahian said in a tweet on October 21.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran in 2016, after a group of angry protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran in protest over the execution of a prominent Shia dissident in Saudi Arabia. Since then, tensions have been on the rise between Tehran and Riyadh, with the Saudi leadership leveling criticism against Iran from time to time.
In September, King Salman took aim at Iran during his debut at the annual United Nations meeting of world leaders, calling for a comprehensive solution to contain Iran.
“A comprehensive solution and a firm international position are required,” the Saudi king told the General Assembly in a video statement, adding, “Our experience with the Iranian regime has taught us that partial solutions and appeasement did not stop its threats to international peace and security.”
Iran hit back at the Saudi king, calling his statement “unconstructive.”
“The unconstructive and unwarranted statement by the Saudi leader only emboldens certain powers who are intent in sowing discord among regional countries with the aim of creating permanent division and selling more deadly weapons to the region,” Iran’s UN mission spokesman Alireza Miryousefi said at the time.