Saudi king slams Iranian meddling in Arab states
dhahran — The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, on Sunday slammed Iran’s “blatant interference” in regional affairs as Arab leaders met in the kingdom for an annual gathering.
Opening the 29th Arab League summit, the king criticised the US decision to transfer its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and described “terrorism” as the biggest challenge facing Arab leaders.
The meeting opened only 24 hours after a barrage of strikes launched by the United States, Britain and France hit targets they said were linked to chemical weapons development in Syria, which was suspended from the league seven
We renew our strong condemnation of Iran’s terrorist acts in the Arab region and reject its blatant interference in the affairs of Arab countries King Salman Abdulaziz
years ago. But King Salman avoided any mention of Syria in his address, as a seat marked ‘Syrian Arab Republic’ sat empty in the hall.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said Bashar Al Assad’s government and “international players trying to achieve their own strategic political goals” bear responsibility for the collapse of that nation. “Regional interference in Arab affairs has reached an unprecedented degree. And first of these is the Iranian interference, the aim of which is not for the wellbeing of the Arabs or their interests,” he said.
“We renew our strong condemnation of Iran’s terrorist acts in the Arab region and reject its blatant interference in the affairs of Arab countries,” King Salman said.
And despite being a stalwart ally of the United States, the ruler criticised US President Donald Trump controversial decision to transfer
America’s embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem. “We reiterate our rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem,” King Salman said. “East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories.”
Arab ministers at a preliminary meeting in Riyadh on Thursday focused heavily on blocking the move, unanimously condemning Trump’s decision.
King Salman announced a $150 million donation for the maintenance of Islamic heritage in East Jerusalem.
“I name this summit in Dhahran the Jerusalem Summit so that the entire world knows Palestine and its people remain at the heart of Arab concerns,” he said.
Saudi Arabia is pushing for a tough, unified stance against Iran at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League.
The two regional titans back opposing sides in a range of hotspots across the Middle East, including Lebanon and Syria and in Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbour Yemen.
Iran is backing Houthi rebels that Riyadh opposes in Yemen and on Sunday Salman praised “the United Nations Security Council’s statement denouncing the Iranian-made ballistic missile fire on Saudi cities”.
Last month, the Security Council issued a statement condemning Houthi missile attacks on Saudi, but did not name Iran.
In February, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have expressed concern over Iran’s failure to block supplies of missiles to Yemen’s Houthi rebels. —