MOSCOW – The Iranian Intelligence Ministry suspects Saudi Arabianintelligence services of being involved in illegal explosives traffickingthrough the Iranian border for staging terror attacks, the ministry said onWednesday in a statement.
The Iranian security services managed to detect two large caches of bombsas well as explosives and shells that were delivered to Iran through thecountry’s eastern border.
“During the first operation, 23 remotely operated bombs, which wereprepared and delivered to the eastern part of Iran under the supervisionof Saudi intelligence services, have been detected,” the IranianIntelligence Ministry’s statement said.
The second operation was carried out in the western part of the country –Iranian Kurdistan – where the security officers managed to reveal equipmentand materials needed for manufacturing explosive devices. They are saidto have belonged to one of the “separatist terror groups.”
The ministry added that members of a group, which came from IraqiKurdistan, had 41 grenades, more than 30 magazines for Kalashnikov assaultrifles and several shells for shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons.
The two major Middle Eastern powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have deepdisagreements on a number of regional issues, including conflicts in Syriaand Yemen. In 2016, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran following protestsin front of its diplomatic premises in Tehran.
Recently, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani named two conditions for a thawbetween the two countries, saying that Riyadh should “stop the misguidedfriendship with Israel and the inhuman bombardment of Yemen.”