Military Official Describes Saudi Arabia as 'Priority Threat' to the Islamic Republic

The head of Iran's Passive Defense Organization has identified Saudi Arabia as a 'priority threat' against the Islamic Republic, stating that 'we are engaged with Saudi Arabia in three areas: military, economic, and cyber.' According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Gholamreza Jalali, the head of this organization, said on Tuesday, October 4, that the U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia are 'the sources of threats against our country, and we are in conflict with Saudi Arabia in three areas: military, economic, and cyber.' He added, 'Saudi leaders are inexperienced and have an offensive strategy towards Iran; in fact, they are a priority threat against us.' This military official also noted that perhaps the military capabilities of Iran and Saudi Arabia have created 'deterrence' in the Persian Gulf, emphasizing that a potential military conflict between the two countries would initially harm Saudi Arabia, then Iran and the U.S., and ultimately the world. Some experts believe that the regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia currently manifests in various forms, including differing policies in the oil market and proxy wars in Yemen and Syria. Previously, several high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic, including Ali Shamkhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, have accused Saudi Arabia of attempting to create insecurity in southeastern Iran and of 'sending weapons' and supporting 'terrorist groups' in the region. In this context, Mohsen Rezaei, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, claimed in late July that Saudi Arabia has established a base in Pakistan's Balochistan to 'destabilize' Iran's eastern borders. He also accused Saudi Arabia of creating a 'military base' in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Following the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran, Saudi Arabia and several of its allies severed relations with Iran. The head of the Passive Defense Organization also identified 'economic warfare' as the second area of conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, stating that the country is 'seeking to inflict any damage' on Iran in the oil sector. Mr. Jalali also referred to the 'conflict' between the two countries in the financial and monetary domain, noting that Saudi Arabia and Israel are observer members in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is one of the issues where 'we can have serious conflict.' Iran and Saudi Arabia have had fundamental disagreements regarding oil production levels and prices in recent years. Meanwhile, the issue of Iran's acceptance of the FATF has made headlines in recent months, with Friday prayer leaders and some other close associates of the Supreme Leader, including Gholamali Haddad Adel, advisor to Ayatollah Khamenei, and Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper, strongly opposing this agreement. On Thursday, October 1, Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the IRGC, stated that the purpose of the agreement with the FATF is to 'monitor financial flows and leverage to influence' this institution, while asserting that this agreement 'has no impact on the internal and regional operations of the IRGC.' The head of the Passive Defense Organization also accused Saudi Arabia of creating 'capabilities' for 'cyber activities in the political and cultural domain' against the Islamic Republic, which 'could include elections and attacks on infrastructure.' Mr. Jalali had previously announced on May 16 that Saudi Arabia was planning cyberattacks against Iran. Following this, the website of the Iranian Statistics Center was temporarily inaccessible on June 4, and users could not access any sections of this site. When searching for 'Iran Statistics Center' on Google, an Arabic phrase appeared instead of the center's name, indicating that this website had been taken down by 'ISIS hackers.' Subsequently, the website of the Iranian Registration of Deeds and Properties and several official websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the websites of Iranian embassies in Argentina, Ukraine, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan, were hacked. Iranian police officials attributed these actions to groups affiliated with the Saudi government.