Saudi Minister takes a dig at Iran’s approach

Iran has been engaged in destructive activities like smuggling weapons to Bahrain as well as Saudi Arabia. The aggressive policies of Tehran have been keeping the Iranian regime away from the dialogue table, said Saudi’s Foreign Affairs Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubair.

Speaking on the topic “The Middle East after the Nuclear Negotiations,” at Manama Dialogue conference yesterday, Al Jubair said prior to the Iranian revolution, Riyadh had a good relation with Tehran.

“But the relation worsened afterwards due to the policies adopted by the Iranian regimes,” he said, adding that Riyadh always wanted a good relation with Tehran. “We want the best possible relations with Iran. It is up to the Iranians whether they want to maintain good neighbourhood,” noted.

Meanwhile, he said that Iran was driving Huthis in Yemen, while Russia as well as Iran were backing Syrian regime. But Al Jubair pointed out that Russia’s role had been positive in Yemen issue, adding that the coalition forces led by Saudi had been successful in containing Iran’s influence in Yemen.

Commenting on the growth of IS, he remarked that not only from the Arab region, but also from all over the world people had joined this extremist organisation in the last couple of years.

“Over 2,000 people have come from Russia to join IS. Many people from UK have also joined this group. IS was able to recruit a Catholic woman from Italy, that too through internet,” he said, adding that the governments had capabilities to push IS back.

Al Jubair opined that it might take 18 to 24 months to bring a change in Syria. “It requires formation of new constitution in consultation with Syrian leaders as well as international community to bring about a sustainable change in Syria,” he added.

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