Riyadh upset by Iran, P5+1 nuclear accord: Analyst
Press TV has conducted an interview with Ali al-Ahmed, Washington-based director of Institute for (Persian) Gulf Affairs, to discuss recent accusations Saudi officials have made against Iran.
Following is a rough transcription.
Press TV: What do you make of these comments coming out of Riyadh claiming that Iran is actually trying to cause more problems and try to destabilize the region?
Ahmed: Well, if you look at the region you would see that who is waging the war in the region; it is the Saudi-led coalition that has killed 4 thousand Yemenis so far, if not more. It is the Saudi army that has invaded Bahrain, it is the Saudi government that invested and financed the coup in Egypt, and it is the Saudi government that is sending thousands of ISIL terrorists to Syria and Iraq.
So in terms of reality, Adel al-Jubeir’s statements fits him more than it fits the Iranian government.
The Saudis feel very upset and a sense of frustration is really characterizing their statements vis-à-vis Iran. Because after the nuclear deal was achieved, the Saudis feel unable to counter any Iranian influence, a natural influence I would call it, in the region.
So they are expressing themselves in angry statements.
Press TV: With the situation that is taking place as you pointed out as far as Saudis being very aggressive and involved in several countries in the region, why do you think they choose at this time to actually try to point the finger at Iran when actually perhaps a lot more attention should be put on them and yet we see nothing from the so-called international community to actually condemn Saudis’ aggressive acts?
Ahmed: Well, this is a very deflective statement and they are pre-empting the discussion by introducing Iran as the evildoer in the region and I think that is intentional with Federica [Mogherini] who is on her first visit to Saudi Arabia. So there is an attempt to shaping the narrative, the discussion, between the Saudis and the EU on the region.
So I think that is what the Saudis have always done; they introduce an issue to distract from the issues that they should discuss with the Europeans or the Americans and Iran is a very convenient issue for them to introduce every time that they meet with the Western leaders.
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