Iran dismissed as groundless the charges of destabilizing the region, recently made by a hostile group of pro-US Arab states.
The allegations came in a joint statement at the end of a Thursday meeting between foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain in Riyadh to discuss Tehran's activities in the Middle East.
It denounced what it called Iranian officials’ provocative anti-Arab statements and claimed Iran’s regional role “threatens Arab national security and obstructs regional and international efforts to resolve outstanding issues in a peaceful way”.
Condemning the bellicose stance the quartet holds toward the Islamic Republic, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, denied the accusations as "unfounded, insulting and stemming from delusion."
"Any anti-Iran point raised in the statement resulting from the quadrilateral Arab meeting, which was also attended by the Arab League secretary general [Ahmad Abu Al Gheit], is a lie that contributes to the trend of pushing regional security and stability prospects farther out of reach," Qasemi said, in remarks posted on the ministry's official website on Friday.
Tensions between Tehran and Riyadh have soared under King Salman bin Abdulaziz who came to power in January 2015, culminating in a decision by the oil kingdom to cut diplomatic ties in early 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was attacked by a group of hard-liners.
Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad were attacked by groups enraged by Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shia cleric without due proces. Backing for opposing sides in the conflicts across the Middle East has further fueled hostility between the two regional powerhouses.
Saudi leaders have spurned the Islamic Republic's repeated positions for dialogue to settle the differences.
The Saudi-led alliance cut diplomatic and trade links with fellow Arab state Qatar in June last year, citing, among other pretexts, its close ties to Tehran.
Qasemi lamented the fact that obsession with hostility toward Iran has clouded the focus of Arab regimes away from a "common" enemy of the Muslim world, in an apparent reference to Israel.
Among the allegations in the latest Arab statement was Iran's provision of weapons to the Houthi fighters in Yemen, a charge repeatedly denied in Tehran.
The ministerial meeting took place days ahead of an Arab summit slated to be held in the Saudi city of Dammam on Sunday.
Qasemi expressed hope that the weekend gathering would serve as a "step toward convergence among Arab and Muslim countries by focusing on the real, effective and stabilizing factors in the region and avoiding fragmented approaches to help achieve proper insight into the causes of the current conflicts."
