Riyadh Distorting Mideast Realities

The Foreign Ministry dismissed the recent "insulting" claims by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir against the Islamic Republic, saying such allegations are aimed mainly at distorting Middle East realities.

"It is Saudi Arabia that is the breeding ground for the emergence and growth of terrorism in the region over the past years," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Tuesday, according to Press TV. He said Saudi Arabia in involved in a futile and failed military aggression against Yemen and has committed war crimes against the defenseless people of the impoverished Arab country for nearly two years.

Jubeir's justifications for Saudi attacks against Yemeni women, children and civilians show that Riyadh has suffered a heavy blow against the Yemenis' strong determination to advance their declared objectives.

  Blame Game 

Qasemi emphasized that the Saudi foreign minister's non-stop  blame game cannot erase the history of the creation and spread of extremism and deviant schools of thought in Saudi Arabia with the support of the ruling elite. 

He said terrorism, which is inspired by Saudi Wahhabism, has resulted in the loss of countless innocent lives and massive destruction of property in West Asia and North Africa.  

The spokesperson reiterated Tehran's principled policy on good neighborliness and said the improvement of relations with neighbors has always been among Tehran's priorities.

"We have taken appropriate steps in recent years to normalize and improve relations with our neighbors and regard the Saudi overt and covert acts of obstructionism as the main hurdle to  a secure and stable region.

Speaking at a joint press conference with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Riyadh on Tuesday, Jubeir claimed that Iran's meddling in the internal affairs of the countries in the Middle East was the root cause of regional distress and instability. He also claimed that Iran was planting terrorist cells in Saudi Arabia and the region in spite of Riyadh's efforts to establish good relations with Tehran.

The Saudi minister pointed to Riyadh's war on Yemen and claimed that the Saudi-led military aggression against the impoverished country was in response to a request by the former Yemeni government.

Saudi Arabia has been engaged in the deadly campaign against Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to restore Yemen's ousted president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of the ruling House of Saud, to power and undermine the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.