Iran’s President Advises Saudi Arabia to Gain Power Through Ballot Boxes
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who won a second term in Friday’s election recommended the Saudi kingdom to think of boosting its national power by holding democratic elections instead of spending billions of dollars on arms purchases.
Speaking at the first press conference after his reelection, President Rouhani reminded the Riyadh regime that the 110-billion-dollar arms deal it has signed with the US is not going to secure the kingdom’s power.
Highlighting the turnout of more than 42 million voters in the Friday’s election in Iran, President Rouhani advised the Saudi rulers to give their people the chance of voting and let them decide whether a hereditary monarchy should go on or not.
He also slammed a recent summit in Riyadh, attended also by the US president, as a theatrical gathering without any political or practical insight.
“The problem of terrorism will not be solved with meetings and by giving a nation’s money to a superpower,” President Rouhani noted, referring to Saudi Arabia’s arms deal with the US.
The Iranian president also said he does not believe that even American people would agree on exchanging “the bloods shed in the September 11 attacks for billions of dollars earned from arms sales.”
Of the 19 hijackers who allegedly carried out terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001, 15 were Saudi nationals and available evidence suggests some of them were linked to high-ranking Saudi officials.
Asked about Donald Trump’s anti-Iran rhetoric, President Rouhani said Iran still waits to see the US administration achieve stability and settle its policies for the future, so that Tehran could make a better judgement on Washington’s government.
