The Saudi Foreign Minister said on Monday that Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism and has been for decades.
After Iran tried to blame Saudi Arabia, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, for a suicide car bombing last week that killed 27 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), Adel Al-Jubeir questioned how Iran could claim that other countries were engaging in terrorist activities, considering their long history of creating, training, and sheltering terrorist groups in the region.
Iran threatened to take unilateral military punitive action in response to last week’s bombing if Pakistan failed to do so, but Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi, during a joint press conference with Jubeir, urged Iran to desist from threats and respect sovereignty.
Iran has long said that Sunni-militants plot cross-border attacks in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province and Pakistani forces have often arrested fugitive Iranian militants on their soil.
Jubeir said that Iran’s accusation was likely an attempt by the Regime to divert attention away from the country’s many crises.
He said: “Saudi Arabia has been the victim of terrorism. … We have been unmerciful in going after terrorists and those who support them and condone them and finance them… We will continue to do so…. We wish to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the face of this planet.”
Jubeir explained that Iran has been sponsoring terrorism since the 1979 Iranian revolution, establishing groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as providing weapons to them.
He said that Iran was also responsible for many terrorist attacks that took place in other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Europe, South America, and the United States.
He went on to say that Iran also constantly meddled in the affairs of foreign countries and even harboured the Al Qaeda terrorists who plotted the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including Osama Bin Laden’s son.
Jubeir said: “Iran has been harbouring virtually the board of directors of al-Qaida, including Osama bin Laden’s son since the events of 9/11.”
Indeed, this revelation of ongoing cooperation between the terror group and the rogue state has led some in the Trump administration to call for military action against what constitutes as an unacceptable global security threat.
The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), passed in the days after 9/11, could provide a legal rationale for striking Iran if economic sanctions are not considered strong enough to neutralize the threat.
Nathan Sales, State Department coordinator for counterterrorism, said: “Since 9/11, the Iranian regime has given sanctuary to senior AQ members, and it remains unwilling to bring these terrorists to justice.
This partnership of convenience between Tehran and AQ is both dangerous and unacceptable, and it further reinforces Iran’s status as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.”
Source » irannewsupdate