Saudi King Calls Iran's Actions in Arab Countries 'Terroristic'

Salman bin Abdulaziz, the King of Saudi Arabia, harshly criticized Iran during his opening speech at the Arab League summit on Sunday, April 15, calling the actions of the Islamic Republic in Arab countries 'terroristic.' His remarks were made at the beginning of the 29th session of the Arab League summit in Dhahran, eastern Saudi Arabia, on the shores of the Persian Gulf. King Salman stated, 'We once again strongly condemn Iran's terrorist actions in the Arab region and reject Iran's disgraceful interventions in the internal affairs of Arab countries.' Iran has not yet responded to King Salman's comments, but the tone between officials of the two countries has intensified in recent months, especially following the launch of several missiles from Yemen towards Saudi Arabia. A day earlier, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, referred to Saudi Arabia as a 'milking cow' and 'Western mercenaries,' claiming that 'malicious creatures' in Iraq and Syria were created 'with Saudi money.' Two days prior, the Saudi Foreign Minister, along with the foreign ministers of three other countries, known as the 'Arab 4 Group,' severely criticized the Islamic Republic of Iran for 'interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries,' 'igniting sectarian and ethnic strife,' 'firing ballistic missiles from Yemen towards Saudi Arabia,' 'supporting terrorist groups in Bahrain,' and other issues. The Iranian Foreign Ministry described these statements as 'offensive' and 'baseless' and rejected them. The UN Security Council condemned the Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia in a statement in March without naming Iran. A month earlier, Russia had vetoed a resolution proposed by Western countries regarding this issue, which expressed concern over Iran's failure to block the supply of missile equipment to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. In his opening speech at the Arab League summit, King Salman also condemned the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, stating that East Jerusalem is an inseparable part of Palestinian territories. He emphasized that this session of the Arab League summit is named 'the Jerusalem Summit' and announced a donation of $150 million to the 'Palestinian Awqaf Administration' in East Jerusalem and $50 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. According to AFP, although the Arab leaders' summit began about 24 hours after the attack by three Western countries on Syria in response to a chemical attack in Douma, King Salman did not mention the attacks in his speech. Leaders of Syria and Qatar were absent from this year's Arab League summit.