Saudi Arabia yesterday accused Iran of a nearly four-decade record of “sedition, unrest and chaos,” as the international community tried to calm tensions between the countries.
“Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, Iran has established a record of spreading sedition, unrest and chaos in the region,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted an unnamed senior foreign ministry official as saying.
“During the same period, the kingdom has maintained a policy of restraint in spite of having suffered - as have neighbouring countries - the consequences of Iran’s continued aggressive policies.”
The official said Iranian policy was based primarily on the idea of exporting revolution.
“Iran recruits militias in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen”, the official said, further accusing Iran of supporting “terrorism” and carrying out assassinations.
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran reached a new high this month when Riyadh and a number of its Arab allies cut diplomatic ties with Tehran.
They acted after protesters burned Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran following the kingdom’s January 2 execution of a Shia cleric.
SPA published a 58-point “fact sheet”, prepared by the foreign ministry, “to illustrate Iran’s aggressive policies” and to refute “the persistent lies” from Tehran, including an article by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif in The New York Times last week.
Over the weekend, a historic international deal lifted crippling economic sanctions on Iran in return for a scaling back of its nuclear capabilities.
Six major world powers including China helped broker that agreement. But Riyadh fears it will further embolden Iran, which it accuses of interference in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere.
China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in Riyadh yesterday, ahead of a visit to Iran, after a Chinese diplomat last week urged “calm and restraint” between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, also in Riyadh yesterday, was another voice calling for “de-escalation.”