A lawmaker said furious anti-Iran remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in recent months stem from his frustration with the kingdom's regional failures.
"Saudis, in recent years, have suffered from successive defeats in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen, and they believe Iran is the reason for their setbacks," Jahanbakhsh Mohebbinia told ICANA on Friday. He was responding to the latest statement by Jubeir on Tuesday, blaming Iran for fostering sectarianism.
"The origins of sectarianism in the region lies in Wahhabi ideology, which the Saudi kingdom is sponsoring," he added.
A Wahhabi regards followers of some Islamic sects, which do not follow their extreme interpretation of Islam, as apostates and considers them to be the archenemies of the religion.
A large number of Saudi-run and sponsored mosques and Islamic schools across the world promote the Wahhabi version of Islam.
In an interview with the Saudi network Al-Arabiya, Jubeir claimed that sectarian strife in the region results from Iran's 1979 revolution and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah was the first "terrorist, sectarian organization" to come to the region.
Since Salman bin Abdulaziz ascended to the Saudi throne in January 2015, the kingdom has adopted a more aggressive policy against Iran.
Saudi Arabia cut relations with Iran early this year, using as an excuse the attacks on its vacant diplomatic premises in Iran by protesters angered over the widely-condemned execution of top Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
This is while Iranian authorities condemned the attack and began the prosecution of perpetrators.
