Iran’s defense minister – Hossein Dehqan (Reuters)
Iran’s defense minister threatens to leave no part of Saudi Arabia untouched if Riyadh “does anything
ignorant”.
By Elad Benari – Arutz Sheva
Iran’s defense minister threatened Saudi Arabia on Sunday, days after a Saudi prince ruled out dialogue
with Tehran and said he would protect his kingdom from what he called Iranian efforts to dominate the Muslim world.
In response, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said Iran will leave no part of Saudi Arabia
untouched except holy Muslim sites if Riyadh “does anything ignorant”, according to the Reuters news
agency.
“If the Saudis do anything ignorant, we will leave no area untouched except Mecca and Medina,” Dehqan
said, according to the report, in comments made to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV.
Dehqan was commenting on remarks by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said
last week that any struggle for influence between the countries ought to take place “inside Iran, not in
Saudi Arabia”.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounced Salman’s comments last week, saying they were “destructive”.
“These comments are proof that Saudi Arabia supports terrorism and seeks confrontational and
destructive policies in the region and towards Iran,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi
was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying in response.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are regional rivals who disagree on a host of issues, including the conflict in Syria,
where Iran provides direct support to President Bashar Al-Assad, while the Saudis back the rebels trying
to oust him.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly called on Iran to stop its “meddling” in the affairs of the kingdom’s
neighbors.
Iran has fired back, accusing Saudi Arabia of trying to “drag the entire region into confrontation”.