Saudi Arabia's relentless policy of massive military spending indicates that the kingdom is concerned about Iran's increasing power and is aware that it will not emerge victorious from any conflict, says the foreign minister.
The Saudis claim that they are not afraid of Iran but at the same time are frantically spending huge amounts of money on arms to "buy security", Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a speech at Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran on Tuesday, ISNA reported.
However, they know that they will not be able to stand against the Islamic Republic as it is one of the strongest militaries in the Muslim world, he added.
An article published by Forbes magazine in February ranked Iran as the fourth strongest military in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, with a military budget of $76.7 billion in 2017, has the region's fifth-strongest army.
During a visit by US President Donald Trump to Riyadh in May 2017, military deals worth nearly $110 billion were signed.
The report said years of international sanctions have led Iran to develop a "substantial home-grown defense industry", adding that the country's armed forces are seen as particular strong in asymmetric warfare.
***Sources of Power
Zarif said Saudi Arabia, which is one of the world's top military spenders, is blind to the fact that countries derive their power from different sources in the new era.
The privilege of being able to "rely on people" is what makes a state truly powerful, he said, adding that "such power is not comparable to any other form of power."
Iran has this advantage, which helps it play an "influential" role in regional and international developments, the foreign minister noted.
In his speech, the chief diplomat made it clear that "we are not seeking confrontation with anyone," underlining the significance of "public diplomacy".
***Saudi-Israel Thaw
At a press conference in Damascus on Tuesday, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, criticized the apparent thaw in relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, IRNA reported.
"It is a matter of regret that Saudi Arabia is today the flag-bearer of normalization of ties with the Zionist regime," the lawmaker said, while denouncing Riyadh's military intervention in Yemen and its atrocities against civilians in the war-torn state.
In a recent interview with the US magazine The Atlantic, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land.
"I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land," the kingdom's de facto ruler stated, adding, "There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council countries."
Saudi Arabia and Israel still have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes, improvements in their ties have accelerated in recent years. According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel earlier this year.
