King Salman says world must unite to crush Tehran’s nuclear ambition
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said the world must take decisive action to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.
In his speech at the opening of the eighth Shura Council session on Wednesday night, he said the country stood firmly against terrorism, extremism and the sectarian strife in the region.
The Saudi monarch also said the world should tackle Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and its regional destabilisation.
“The kingdom affirms the seriousness of the Iranian regime’s regional project,” King Salman said.
He said Saudi Arabia “calls on the international community to take a firm stance towards Iran that guarantees to stop it from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, developing its ballistic missile programme and threatening peace and security”.
During his online address, attended by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, King
Salman also denounced the breaking of international laws by the Tehran-backed Houthi militia.
He said the Yemeni rebels were “launching booby-trapped drones and ballistic missiles towards civilians in the kingdom”.
He also stressed “the support for the brotherly Yemeni people, to restore their sovereignty and independence through their legitimate authorities”.
The Saudi- led coalition intercepted and destroyed two explosive- laden drones launched towards Saudi Arabia by the Houthis, Saudi state TV reported on Thursday. It was the latest in near-weekly attacks on the kingdom.
King Salman’s address also laid out Riyadh’s views on critical local and regional concerns from the coronavirus pandemic to the Libya conflict.
On the pandemic, the monarch said that the kingdom had rushed to support the economy from the impact of shutdowns and the subsequent loss of business.
“Your country has rushed to present government initiatives to the private sector, especially small and medium enterprises, that included more than 218 billion riyals [$58.1bn], in addition to supporting the health sector with an amount of 47bn riyals,” he said.
“Through the management of the pandemic, we have sought to continue business and balance the economic, health and social impact, and we will continue continuous evaluation until the end of the pandemic, God willing.”
He said the kingdom’s leadership of the G20 as its chair meant Saudi Arabia had played a central role in co-ordinating the global effort to find a coronavirus vaccine and confront the global impact of the pandemic. Riyadh brought world leaders together for a summit on the crisis in March.
King Salman said he was looking forward to the next G20 summit this month “to promote development and stimulate co-operation globally – to create a prosperous future for mankind”.
He said Saudi Arabia worked to stabilise global oil markets since the creation of Opec in 1960 and had played a pivotal role in establishing more recent initiatives with nonOpec members to bring market stability and supply sustainability.
“The kingdom has also worked, and is still working, to ensure the stability of oil supplies to the world in a way that serves producers and consumers alike, despite the economic conditions that the world is experiencing today due to the coronavirus pandemic and its repercussions on global oil markets,” he said.
King Salman commented on ties with Iraq after deals were signed this week to enhance co- operation between the neighbouring countries.
“We also stand with Iraq and its brotherly people, and support the efforts of its government for the sake of its stability, growth and preservation of its position in its Arab surroundings, and the strengthening of relations between the two brotherly countries and co-operation in various fields through the Saudi-Iraqi Co-ordination Council,” he said.
After meetings this week between officials, including a phone call between Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi and Crown Prince Mohammed, the countries said the Arar border crossing – which has been closed for decades to commercial traffic – will be reopened next week, along with a commercial consul in Baghdad.
They also agreed on oil market co-operation, commercial deals and “expanding and enhancing co-operation to serve the interest of brotherly people in both countries.”
As talks between the warring parties in Libya continue in Tunis under the auspices of the UN, King Salman welcomed developments after an agreement to lay terms for an election that could end the fighting.
“We follow with interest the developments in Libya,” he said and welcomed “the permanent ceasefire as well as the ongoing political and military talks”.
King Salman said the truce could lead to “the inauguration of a new era that achieves security, peace, sovereignty and stability for Libya”.
He also called for an end to external interference in Libyan affairs.
The king said Saudi Arabia stood with the Palestinian people, affirming support for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital as laid out by the Arab Peace Initiative.
“We support efforts aimed at establishing peace in the Middle East by negotiating between the Palestinian and Israeli parties to reach a just and lasting agreement,” he said.
Saudi Arabia signed deals with Baghdad and will reopen its Arar border with Iraq for the first time in decades