RIYADH – Any loans to Iran or engagement by the international communityrepresent “appeasement,” Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adelal-Jubeir claimed, accusing Iran of aggressive behaviour.
Iran’s recent warnings to Saudi Arabia are “ridiculous” and “laughable,”al-Jubeir told CNBC amid ongoing investigations in Saudi Arabia, whosuspects Iran to be responsible for a major attack on its oil facilities.He spoke out after Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in aninterview Friday that he hoped to avoid conflict, but that Iran wasprepared for “all-out war” in the event of an attack by Saudi or US forces,asking whether Saudi Arabia was ready to fight “to the last Americansoldier.”
“This is not the first time Iran’s foreign minister has said somethingridiculous and frankly laughable,” al-Jubeir told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble inRiyadh on Saturday. “The attack that Iran conducted was an attack againstthe whole world, not just Saudi Arabia. And now they’re trying to justifyit, they’re trying to find ways to create divides.”
The minister stressed that Saudi Arabia, who was criticized for havingfailed to effectively counter the drone and missile attacks, wasresponsible for its own defences, while stressing the internationalcommunity’s role in reining in what he called Iran’s “aggressive behaviour.”
“It is our responsibility to protect our borders, our people, ourinfrastructure— but the world also has a responsibility to make sure Iranisn’t allowed to get away with murder, to ensure freedom of navigation inthe Gulf and the Arabian Sea so global energy supply isn’t disrupted,” hesaid.
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He also criticized the trade mechanism that has been developing in Germanyand France to bypass US sanctions as an example of “appeasement,” arguingthat it will only condone the country’s behaviour.
Both the US and Saudi Arabia didn’t take any retaliatory action againstIran, although on Friday the Pentagon announced that it will deployadditional US troops and missile defence equipment to Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates. The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,Major General Hossein Salami, reacted to the news by warning that anycountry attacking Iran will become the “main battlefield.” IranianPresident Hassan Rouhani, for his part, warned that the Iranian militarywould down all drones violating the country’s airspace.
Two drones attacked Saudi Aramco oil facilities on 14 September, causing amajor fire and partially disrupting oil production. The incident wasclaimed by Yemen’s Houthis, but the US put the blame on Iran. Tehran hasstrongly denied all the allegations. -Sputnik
