Saudi Arabia is the cradle of terrorism, says Iran

Iran says Saudi Arabia, “the cradle of terrorism,” has been attempting to distort facts into their exact opposite version by accusing Iran of sponsoring terror and meddling in the affairs of regional countries.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi made the remarks on Saturday in reaction to earlier comments by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made to American television channel CNBC.

In that interview, Jubeir accused Iran of being behind a recent missile attack on Saudi Arabia from neighboring Yemen. That missile was fired by Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, which has been defending the impoverished country against a deadly Saudi-led invasion since March 2015.

“We would like to see sanctions on Iran for its support of terrorism and sanctions on Iran for violating the ballistic missile resolutions of the United Nations,” Jubeir said on Thursday.

Qassemi described the Saudi official’s comments as “cheap.”

“The Saudis have taken the blame game to its highest level,” he said, adding that Jubeir was attempting to distract attention away from Saudi Arabia’s “destabilizing activities” in the region by distorting facts.

“While Saudi Arabia itself is the cradle of extremist ideology and the incarnation of terrorism and flagrant interference in the affairs of other regional countries, it deceptively accuses others of supporting terror,” Qassemi said.

That tactic, he said, has been tried and has failed.

The governments and nations of the region now clearly see the divisive policies of the Saudis, who, after the Persian Gulf and Yemen, have now turned to Lebanon to destabilize that country, Qassemi said.

Saudi Arabia, under King Salman and his all-powerful son, Mohammed, has engaged in radical measures against regional countries since 2015. Riyadh launched an invasion of Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, in March that year, attempting unsuccessfully to reinstall a former allied regime. The Saudi-led war on Yemen has so far killed 12,000 people and spread cholera and famine in the country.

Saudi officials have also orchestrated a diplomatic and economic war on Qatar, triggering a crisis in the Persian Gulf region.

They are also believed to have pressured Saad Hariri to resign as prime minister of Lebanon in an attempt to disrupt the political balance in that country to the detriment of Hezbollah.

Hariri announced his resignation in remarks made in Riyadh and broadcast by a Saudi-owned television. Lebanese government officials believe he is being held in Saudi Arabia against his will. In his statement of resignation, Hariri duplicated Riyadh’s accusations against Iran and Hezbollah.