Saudi Arabia Source of Instability in Region Not Iran: Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s permanent representative to the UN dismissed Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s recent accusations against Tehran as a “blame game” aimed at diverting world attention away from Riyadh’s dark record of supporting terrorism.
“Saudi Arabia desperately seeks to press charges against others in order to deflect attention from its long, dark record of extensively supporting terrorism, promoting extremist ideologies, sowing the seeds of discord and hatred, making destabilizing moves in the region and committing crimes during its aggression against Yemen in the past six years,” Majid Takht-Ravanchi noted.
“It has completely been proven that Saudi Arabia, as a source of instability in the region, was the main financial supporter of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator, during Iraq’s eight-year aggression against Iran during which he committed countless crimes, including using chemical weapons against Iranian and Iraqi citizens and cities,” he added, according to IFP news.
“It has also become completely clear today that Saudi Wahhabi ideology was the main source of inspiration for the most dangerous terrorist groups such as the ISIS and al-Qaeda, and this country is seen as the key sponsor of these groups with its petrodollars,” he said.
“Another example of Saudi Arabia’s destabilizing move in the region is its merciless killings during its aggression against Yemen over the past six years, which have had no results other than the killing of women and children and the destruction of houses, mosques and hospitals and the targeting of mourning and wedding ceremonies alike,” he noted.
“These crimes against Yemeni children have been so heinous that the UN has put Saudi Arabia on top of the list of the world’s child-killing entities, though the name of the country was removed from the list later due to completely unprofessional reasons,” he said.
The ambassador said Riyadh, in an inhumane move, keeps using famine as a war tactic and also prevents fuel, food and medicines from being sent to Yemeni people.
Iran’s reaction came after the Saudi king, in his UN General Assembly speech, accused Iran of having struck Saudi oil facilities with missiles last year, a charge that Tehran vehemently denies.
The monarch claimed Iran keeps targeting Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles and drones.
He said international pressure against Iran should increase in order to prevent Tehran from attaining what he called “weapons of mass destruction.”
