Saudi must end Mideast meddling

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has urged Saudi Arabia to adopt a realistic view to regional issues.

ID: 41675 | Date: 2015/11/02
The president also called on Riyadh to end its intrusive policies to pave the way for the solution of problems hindering mutual relations.


"If Saudi Arabia's outlook on general regional issues is brought closer to realities and it renounces its meddling, many problems including those concerning [bilateral] relations can be solved in the new conditions," Rouhani, who was speaking in reference to the deadly Saudi aggression against Yemen, said in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iran's ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions to other countries in Tehran on Monday, Press TV reported


Saudi Arabia launched its military campaign in Yemen on March 26 in line with Riyadh's goal of undermining the Houthi movement and bringing Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.


The Saudi aggression has claimed the lives of more than 7,100 people so far, while a total of nearly 14,000 people have also been injured.


Rouhani further said, “Today, we have many important issues in the region whose prolongation will only be beneficial to a regime like the Israeli regime.”


The Iranian president emphasized that the establishment of peace, stability and security in the Middle East will be detrimental to the Israeli regime and beneficial to all regional nations.


Rouhani said Iran is ready to hold negotiations on regional issues on the condition that the talks would lead to restoration of security and stability to regional countries.


He expressed confidence that the Syrian, Yemeni and Bahraini conflicts would be solved through political approaches.


“It will be possible to reach this objective only through constructive interaction,” he pointed out.


Syria has been grappling with a foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The violence has so far claimed the lives of nearly 250,000 people and displaced millions.


In a Sunday meeting with the Iranian foreign minister and Iran’s ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions to other countries, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that holding elections is the solution to the four-year crisis in Syria.


Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that financial and military support for militants must first be terminated to end war and unrest in Syria so that the Syrian people would be able to elect who they wish in a secure and safe atmosphere.