A senior diplomat criticized Saudi Arabia’s hostility toward Iran, saying Iran’s regional influence originates from its “wisdom” in dealing with its neighbors rather than its military power.
In an interview with Press TV released on Friday, Gholamali Khoshrou, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, said Iran is a “stabilizing factor in the region” due to its contribution to the fight against the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group.
On the contrary, he said, Saudi Arabia has adopted “destructive” policies in the region over the past years by attacking Yemen, helping the emergence of militant groups such as Taliban and Al-Qaeda, and supporting IS and former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.
“They [the Saudis] are thinking that they are counter-balancing Iran’s influence, but Iran’s influence is not because of its military force, but because of its wisdom on how to deal with its neighbors and radicals in the region,” he said. The official was asked about remarks by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in May that the regime “will work to have the battle in Iran rather than in Saudi Arabia” as well as the deadly IS-claimed terrorist attacks in Tehran. Khoshrou said the Saudis are organizing, supporting and providing logistics to some groups following the Wahhabi ideology, but they have been unable to do anything against Iran.
Clear Intervention
The Iranian envoy denounced Salman’s statement as being against international law and “clear intervention in Iran’s affairs” showing Riyadh’s support for terrorism and extremism.
The remarks indicate that “whatever is taking place … under the ideology of Wahhabism has roots in Saudi Arabia in one way or another”, he stressed.
Prominent British politicians have accused UK Premier Theresa May of preventing the release of the Home Office report on Saudi Arabia funding violent groups in the UK and urged that the regime should be called out publicly. They have denounced her policy of undermining the protection of British people for “potential trade deals with questionable regimes”.
On June 7, gunmen mounted assaults on Iran’s Parliament and the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, killing 18 people and wounding 50 others.
In response to the assaults, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps fired six medium-range ground-to-ground ballistic missiles at the IS-held Syrian town of Deir al-Zor on June 18, killing over 170 terrorists.
Khoshrou described the Tehran attacks as “blind action” by IS and the missile strike as “retaliation based on self-defense”.
