Advisor: Anti-Iran Remarks Due to Saudi Officials’ Fear of Collapse

Iranian Parliament Speaker’s top advisor for international affairs Hossein Sheikholeslam blasted the Saudi officials for their recent remarks against Iran, and said such Iranophobia attempts are made because the Arab monarchs in Riyadh are fearful of their imminent collapse,according to FNA.     

“Saudi Arabia is afraid that the Saudi nation and the nations which are suffering from autocratic rulers pick up the Islamic Republic of Iran as their role model and that this modeling leads to their collapse and decline,” Sheikholeslam said on Wednesday, referring to the recent remarks made by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal against Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and Tehran’s talks with the six world powers in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

“The Saudi officials are not qualified to comment on Iran’s nuclear program,” he stressed, describing Saudi Arabia as one of the regional countries threatening peace and security in the region.

In relevant remarks on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast also strongly dismissed the recent claims raised by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) against Iran, and warned them to avoid unwelcomed interference in Iran’s domestic affairs.

Mehman-Parast blasted the allegations made by the GCC states in their Riyadh meeting about the recent nuclear talks between Iran and the world powers in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and stressed that the Arab ministers’ claim about “lack of progress” during the Almaty talks signifies their lack of knowledge about the latest developments.

The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman called on the GCC members to express their stances with more care and only after gaining proper information and a correct understanding of issues and developments.

Iran and six world powers last week agreed on further meetings after two days of talks in Kazakhstan, the first since negotiations broke down in June, 2012.

Following the meeting, both the chief negotiators of Iran and the world powers described their talks as a “turning point”. While both Iran’s lead negotiator Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton – who leads the delegations of the world powers in talks with Iran – said they now have a positive outlook about future talks, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the Austrian TV that a deal is possible now.

Salehi also on Sunday said that Tehran is now waiting to see gradual removal of the western sanctions.

M.D