Saudi Arabia urges Tehran to mind its own business

RIYADH (AlArabiya.net, AFP)

Saudi Arabia has urged Iran to mind its own business and condemned comments made by a
parliamentary panel in Tehran warning that Riyadh was “playing with fire” by deploying troops in Bahrain. “Iran’s statement deliberately ignores Iran’s interference in the region’s affairs and its violation of the independence and sovereignty of the region,” an unnamed government official said late on Friday, quoted by state news agency SPA. On Thursday, the Iranian parliament’s foreign affairs and national security committee said: “Saudi Arabia should know it’s better not to play with fire in the sensitive region of the Persian Gulf.”

Riyadh’s retort was to accuse Tehran of “fuelling confessional tensions (in the region) and failing to respect the norms of good neighborliness as in the case of Kuwait where a spy cell has been uncovered.”

Iran was “ignoring the fact they have no right to violate Bahrain’s sovereignty, or to involve themselves in its affairs or that of any other Gulf state or to attempt to deprive Bahrain from its legitimate right to seek the help of al-Jazeerah (Peninsula) Shield ” the government official said.

Saudi Arabia heads a joint contingent of Gulf troops deployed in Bahrain on March 14 in support of the kingdom’s forces in Bahrain, which have faced anti-regime protests since mid-February.

Tehran condemned the deployment and has denied any link to three people convicted of spying in Kuwait and sentenced to death last Tuesday.