Saudi FM vows to prevent any 'negative acts' by Iran

Amman

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir vowed Thursday that his country would prevent any "negative actions" by rival Iran, as the two countries back opposing factions in Yemen's conflict."We are determined to prevent Iran from taking any negative actions in the region or in any brotherly Arab country," Jubeir said at a press conference in Amman with his Jordanian counterpart, Nasser Judeh.

Saudi Arabia is "working to fight against the destabilising acts of Iran in the region," he said, with the "kingdom's intervention to support legitimacy in Yemen being the best example." Iranian-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen have taken over large chunks of the country over the past several months, forcing President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi into Saudi exile.

In March, Riyadh and a coalition of Arab countries began carrying out air strikes on the rebels, known as Huthis. The UN says more than 3,200 people have been killed and 1.26 million displaced in Yemen since then. But the Saudi minister insisted that "if there are any hostile actions, they are coming from Iran and not Saudi Arabia."

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia lies across the Gulf from Shiite Iran, and the two countries have long had prickly relations, as they vie for predominance in the region.