Zarif: We have information that Saudi Arabia is supporting terrorists along Iran's borders

On Tuesday, June 13, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated at the Oslo Forum in Norway that Iran has information that Saudi Arabia is supporting and abetting "terrorists" near Iran's borders.

Speaking at a joint meeting at the Oslo Forum, the Iranian foreign minister said in response to a question about Iran's reasons for blaming Saudi Arabia for last Wednesday's bloody attacks in Tehran: "Saudi Arabia is actively exploiting extremist and radical groups in the Baluchistan region as well as in western Iran."

Mr. Zarif continued: "Some Saudi Arabian officials, including the country's defense minister, announced about a month ago that we are taking the war to Iran's borders."

Zarif described these statements as "a dangerous threat" and said: "Then, on the very day that the terrorist incident occurred in Iran, the Saudi Foreign Minister wrote on Twitter that Iran must be punished, and a few hours later this terrorist incident occurred in Iran."

According to Javad Zarif, Iran has "solid information" that shows that "Saudi Arabia is actively supporting extremist and radical groups in the Balochistan region and using the territory of one of our neighboring countries, despite the reluctance of that neighbor."

The Iranian Foreign Minister said that "the goal of these groups is to organize an attack against Iran," and referred to the attacks in May of this year, in which nine Iranian border guards lost their lives.

The head of Iran's foreign policy apparatus also accused Saudi Arabia of "having similar activities in the western part of Iran," which, according to Zarif, is "abusing the hospitality of another of Iran's neighbors."

The Iranian Foreign Minister also emphasized that "the security of Iran's neighbors is very important to Iran."

According to Mr. Zarif, "Iran is very safe, but we also need a safe region so that we can enjoy our security."

He emphasized that "security in Saudi Arabia is just as important to Iran as security in Qatar and other neighboring countries."

In another part of his speech, he emphasized that "the Iranian people will express their expectations and protests at the ballot box, not by wearing suicide belts."

Mohammad Javad Zarif, who traveled to Norway to attend the Oslo Forum, made these remarks at a joint meeting held with Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy chief, the foreign ministers of Norway and Indonesia, and former US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Following these remarks, Mohammad Javad Zarif posted a series of tweets, writing: "In the 1980s, fear-mongering about Iran distracted the West to tolerate the promotion of Wahhabism in the world, and the result was Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Al-Nusra."

The Iranian foreign minister continued in another tweet: "America's complicity in marginalizing reasonable Muslim groups once again opens the field to a large extent for the recruitment of Wahhabi extremists."

At the end of these three tweets, the head of Iran's foreign policy apparatus stated: "Recent developments have increased the necessity of our long-standing proposal to hold comprehensive and rational talks in the Persian Gulf."

In the same context, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, former Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Assistant to the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for International Affairs, also tweeted: "Riyadh is the main suspect in the terrorist events in Tehran."

According to this former Iranian Foreign Ministry official, "Bandar, the head of Riyadh's security service, directed the November 2013 terrorist operation against the Iranian embassy in Beirut, and now Riyadh is the main suspect in Tehran's terrorist events."

Previously, a number of other Iranian officials and military commanders, including Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards, had also said: "He has accurate information that Saudi Arabia has supported terrorists and has demanded that they carry out such operations in Iran."

Saudi Arabian officials have denied the allegations.

In two simultaneous attacks on Wednesday, June 8, on the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran, 17 people were killed and more than 50 were injured.

The group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, claimed responsibility for the two attacks and also emphasized carrying out similar actions in Iran in the future.

Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have risen in recent years, with the two countries clashing over various regional issues, including Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, and the Qatar crisis.

Source: Radio Farda