Tabnak – As the Saudi officials continue their smearing campaign against Iran and at the same time, are trying to increase the pressure on Tehran in the region, Iranian officials have once again denied the accusations, noting that it’s Riyadh, not Iran, which is consistent in its destabilizing foreign behaviors.
According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed the provocative moves by the Saudi government, saying that such measures threaten regional stability.
'Visits to the belligerent KSA have proved hazardous to regional health,' the Iranian foreign minister wrote on his Twitter account while warning against the visits by certain officials to Riyadh to sow the seed of discord among the regional countries.
Zarif said that the recent visits by US President Donald Trump and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri to Saudi Arabia proved to be harmful to the regional stability and tranquility.
"Trump visit led to Bahrain repression followed by Qatar debacle,” the foreign minister said. "Visits by Kushner and Lebanese prime minister led to Hariri's bizarre resignation while abroad. Of course, Iran is accused of interference.”
"KSA is engaged in wars of aggression, regional bullying, destabilizing behavior and risky provocations,” the foreign minister said while expressing surprise that Riyadh blames Iran for the consequences.
Meanwhile, Press TV reports that Iran has formally rejected "destructive, irresponsible, provocative and baseless” allegations leveled by the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, accusing Tehran of being behind a Saturday missile attack on Riyadh.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi made the remarks on Monday after the coalition, which includes a number of Saudi Arabia’s vassal states under its command, said in a statement earlier in the day that Iran was to blame for a Yemeni missile strike on Riyadh.
He pointed to Saudi war crimes and acts of aggression against Yemen, saying that Yemenis had showed an "independent” reaction to Saudi attacks that was not rooted in another country's measures or provocations.
On Saturday, a Riyadh-based media outlet reported that Saudi Arabia’s air force had intercepted a ballistic missile that had been launched from Yemen over the Saudi capital. The Saudi-led coalition and US President Donald Trump have both blamed Iran for the missile attack, an allegation Tehran strongly denies.
"Our friendly advice to them is to stop playing the blame game and levelling accusations against others, and rather halt their attacks on the innocent and defenseless people of Yemen as soon as possible, and pave the way for Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue and peace-making in that country,” Qassemi said.
Yemen’s people have been under massive attacks by the Saudi-led coalition for more than two years, but Riyadh has reached none of its objectives in Yemen so far. Over 14,000 Yemenis, including thousands of women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.
