Riyadh: Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies could turn a page and build strong relations with Iran if it respects them and stops “meddling” in their affairs, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said today.
“If Iran changes its way and its policies, nothing would prevent turning a page and building the best relationship based on good neighbourliness, with no meddling in the affairs of others,” he told reporters in Riyadh.
“There is no need for mediation” in such a case, said Jubeir, whose country severed all links with the Islamic republic in January after crowds attacked the kingdom’s diplomatic missions in Iran.
Jubeir said relations with Tehran had deteriorated “due to the sectarian policies” followed by Shiite-dominated Iran and “its support for terrorism and implanting of terrorist cells in the countries of the region”.
“Iran is a neighbouring Muslim country that has a great civilisation and a friendly people, but the policies followed that the revolution of (Ayatollah Ruhollah) Khomeini have been aggressive,” he said.
Jubeir was speaking after a meeting for Gulf foreign ministers and their counterparts from Jordan and Morocco.
Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf nations also accuse Iran of supporting Shiite rebels in Yemen, as well as attempting to destabilise their own regimes.
They also support rebels in Syria’s five-year-old war while Tehran openly backs the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.