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Al-Jubeir: Iran’s Propaganda of Rapprochement is Ridiculous | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Al-Jubeir/AFP


London- Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said on Tuesday that Tehran’s propaganda of rapprochement with Riyadh is “ridiculous,” adding that meetings held with the Iranian delegation during the Hajj season were not a “normalization of relations,” but had only a religious aspect.

During a news conference at the Saudi embassy’s headquarters in London, the Saudi minister said: “If Iran wants to improve its relationship with the Kingdom, it should change its policies and stop terrorism and interference.”

Al-Jubeir said that “Iran is destabilizing the region through Hezbollah and terrorist attacks, while al-Qaeda leaders in Iran have given orders to carry out attacks in the Kingdom.”

The foreign minister also spoke about the crisis with Qatar, saying that the four states (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain) had presented a list of demands to Doha and would refuse to deal with a country that interferes in the affairs of other countries.

“No harm if the crisis with Qatar continues for another week, month, year or two years. We will not deal with a state that supports terrorism at the financial and media level,” he said, asserting that the people of Qatar is the only one who decides who governs them, noting that Britain stood neutrally in the crisis and did not support the Doha position.

Al-Jubeir also denied reports that the four countries had placed a “siege” on Qatar, stressing that no country can be accepted while its media is supporting terrorism and terrorist operations.

“The four countries have boycotted Qatar and not sieged it…Do you see planes from the four countries flying in the Qatari airspace for monitoring? No,” he said.

On Yemen, Al-Jubeir stressed that the Arab alliance deals in Yemen under international law, noting that “Sana’a airport can be reopened if the United Nations takes over.”