Call for Int’l Action Against Saudi Support for Extremism

Iran's UN Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo urged the global community to take action against Saudi Arabia's support for terrorism and extremism.

"It is imperative for the international community to take action to compel Saudi Arabia to stop its reckless sponsorship of terrorism and extremism in the region and across the globe," Khoshroo wrote in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council on Thursday.

The Iranian diplomat expressed Tehran's preparedness to hold dialogue with Saudi Arabia to promote regional peace despite "unlawful and inflammatory" remarks by Saudi deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, against Iran, Press TV reported. On Tuesday, Salman, who is also the Saudi defense minister, ruled out ties with Iran after Tehran announced the possibility of de-escalation if Riyadh halted its war against Yemen.

One day earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had said Tehran was ready to normalize ties with Riyadh if the kingdom halted its bombardment of Yemen and stopped supporting extremist groups.

Salman also said any struggle for influence between Iran and Saudi Arabia has to take place "inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia", without elaborating on the remark. He stressed that talks with Iran were impossible as Tehran's goal was to "control the Muslim world".

"We have no desire, nor any interest, in an escalation of tension in our neighborhood," Khoshroo's letter read.

"We continue to stand ready for dialogue and accommodation to promote regional stability, combat destabilizing extremist violence and reject sectarian hatred. We hope Saudi Arabia will be persuaded to heed the call of reason."

Saudi Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to bring back to power the ousted president, Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh, and to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement. Riyadh has, however, failed to reach its goals despite suffering great expense.

The military aggression has claimed the lives of more than 12,000 people, most of them civilians.

In a statement on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi had said the Saudi deputy crown prince's remarks against Iran are proof that the kingdom follows "confrontational and destructive policies" in the region and toward Tehran.

"Over the past years, Iran has shown in words and deeds that it endeavors to use the common ground to reach understanding and cooperate with all regional countries," he said. Qasemi noted that unity in the Muslim world toward resolving the regional crises is of utmost importance to Iran.

The spokesmen stressed that these crises all result from foreign interference and extremist terrorism rooted in Saudi-backed Wahhabism. Wahhabism is the radical ideology dominating Saudi Arabia, freely preached by government-backed clerics there, and inspiring terrorists worldwide.

The self-styled Islamic State and other takfiri terrorist groups use the ideology to declare the people of other faiths as infidels punishable by death.