Iran Blames the US and Saudi Arabia for Regional Instability and Extremism

The spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statements regarding the Islamic Republic's role in 'destabilizing' the region and arming the Houthi Shiites in Yemen, stating that the cooperation between the US and Saudi Arabia is a catalyst for 'instability and extremism' in the region. According to the IRNA news agency, Bahram Qasemi on Monday, April 29, dismissed Pompeo's comments about Iran's involvement in Yemen as 'a crude and worthless claim' aimed at 'continuing Saudi Arabia's warmongering and aggression against Yemen and the ongoing destructive and destabilizing presence of foreign powers in the region.' Qasemi also claimed that the partnership between the US and Saudi Arabia is 'a partnership aimed at destabilization, war, and further strengthening arms races and extremism based on the adventures of some inexperienced and warmongering Saudi politicians.' He also attributed the 'appalling humanitarian situation in Yemen and extremism and terrorism in the region' to the partnership of these two countries. Mike Pompeo, the new US Secretary of State, who traveled to the Middle East to garner support from US allies for potential new sanctions against Iran, referred to Iran as the 'source of instability' in the entire region during his visit to Riyadh on Sunday and emphasized the need for unity among Gulf countries. He accused Iran of jeopardizing regional security by arming the Houthi Shiites in Yemen and criticized Iran's support for the 'murderous regime' of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In this press conference, Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, also called for more sanctions against Iran. Saudi Arabia and the US have repeatedly accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthi rebels and emphasized that the ballistic missiles used by the Houthis are made in Iran. However, Iran denies these accusations. Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in proxy wars and intense political rivalries across various parts of the Middle East, including Syria and Yemen. Both countries also support different groups, parties, and political figures in Lebanon and Iraq. Recently, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, in a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US, noted that in the competition among countries in the Middle East, we have devastated the region in the quest to become the most powerful country and eliminate the other. The US believes that Iran's 'destabilizing and destructive behaviors,' including its missile programs and presence in the region, violate the spirit of the nuclear agreement, and therefore expects its allies to hold Iran accountable for other aspects of its actions by revising the JCPOA. Donald Trump, the US President, has set a deadline for US European allies to correct the 'catastrophic flaws' in the nuclear agreement by May 11, and the US Secretary of State, who met with the Israeli Prime Minister on Sunday night, emphasized that if the nuclear agreement with Iran is not changed, Donald Trump will withdraw from it. Israel and Saudi Arabia are major supporters of Trump's stance on making changes to the JCPOA or withdrawing the US from it, but France, Britain, and Germany, which support maintaining the JCPOA, are seeking to encourage the US to remain in the nuclear agreement by imposing new sanctions against Iran.