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Al-Jubeir calls Iran FM Zarif’s statements on Saudi attacks ‘outlandish, laughable’
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir called Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s statements on the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities “outrageous, outlandish and frankly laughable.”
In an interview with CNN’s Nic Robertson, al-Jubeir was asked about his thoughts on Zarif’s statement where he said that Saudi Arabia was “willing to fight Iran down to the last US soldier.”
“It confirms that he’s said many outrageous and outlandish things, and frankly laughable things… Saudi Arabia always carries its weight; Saudi Arabia and the United States are not reckless when it comes to wars. War is the last resort, it’s the Iranians who are reckless in engaging in such behavior,” al-Jubeir responded.
Iranian officials have continued to deny any involvement in the attacks that targeted Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities in Khurais and Abqaiq on September 14, despite investigators identifying the weapons used as Iranian-made.
“He and other Iranian officials have said a lot of things that are frankly not correct, if not, outright lies. And so, to say that they are not responsible for this or they didn’t do it is outrageous,” al-Jubeir said.
“Either Mr. Zarif is not telling the truth, or he’s not aware of what his government is doing,” he added.
Iranian officials have issued several statements since the attacks, including a tweet by the Iranian foreign minister who said that US President Donald Trump’s administration and “ambitious allies” should pray that a war does not happen “for their own sake,” in addition to threatening an “al-out war.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader had also said stated that “there will be no talks with the US at any level.” The statement came as the UN’s General Assembly is set to convene this week, ending speculations that US and Iranian officials would meet.
“There is an art of the Iranian government that projects an image of wanting to talk to the world, but they don’t seem to have influence. And there’s another part of the government that wants to expand the revolution and take over the region and don’t want to talk so it’s like two faces of the same coin,” al-Jubeir said.
