Tabnak – As part of its general policy of intensifying pressures on Iran, the United States is trying to empower its Arab allies in the region to counter what they see as the “Iran threat.” Meanwhile, Washington’s main Arab ally Saudi Arabia has been doubling down on its accusations against the Islamic Republic.
In this vein, the United States hosted a meeting of top Arab diplomats in New York on Friday to push forward a plan to establish a NATO-like regional alliance to confront Iran.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with foreign ministers from Egypt and Jordan as well as six Persian Gulf Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar, to discuss the formation of the so-called “Arab NATO”.
The State Department said in a statement that the participants in the meeting had all underlined "the need to confront threats from Iran directed at the region and the United States." The foreign ministers, the statement read, had "productive discussions" on creating what is to be known as the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA).
Separately on Friday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir expressed Riyadh’s support for the anti-Iran policy adopted by the administration of US President Donald Trump. Saudi Arabia “supports the new US strategy to counter Iran," he said in an address to the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Jubeir further denounced what he called Iran's "terrorist activities and aggressive behavior" and claimed that achieving peace in the Middle East required "deterring Iran's expansionist and destructive policies."
In response, Iran rejected as “unfounded and hackneyed” allegations made by Saudi Foreign Minister, saying Riyadh is undoubtedly the most infamous sponsor of terrorism in the world.
"The root cause of terrorism that has engulfed the entire world, particularly the Middle East, is nowhere but Saudi Arabia and the radical thoughts and ideologies that are promoted, spread and financed by this regime," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Saturday.
The Iranian spokesperson said it is no surprise that the Saudi foreign minister proudly expresses his country's support for Trump's strategy to counter multilateralism and undermine international agreements and accords as Saudi Arabia has been among the most important supporters of a current affiliated with Trump's thoughts in the US which, along with the Zionist lobby and the United Arab Emirates, is spending billions of dollars to promote Washington's warmongering and its policy of destabilizing other parts of the world.
It should be noted that back in May, Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite objections from other signatories of the accord.
Besides re-imposing the anti-Iran sanctions it had lifted under the accord, the Trump administration has also been seeking to discourage the European firms from doing business with Iran by threatening them with penalties.
