Saudi Foreign Minister in no position to comment on Iran nuclear energy program

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - An Iranian lawmaker has condemned recent remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program in a meeting with his US counterpart, John Kerry.

“The Saudi and US foreign ministers have no right to comment on Iran’s nuclear issues,” Mojtaba Rahmandoust noted on Tuesday.

The parliamentarian argued that the United States has been constantly attempting to hinder Iran’s progress through proxy regimes in the region.

“You cannot expect Saudi Arabia, whose political and religious positions are well known, to avoid making anti-Iran remarks because it is in this government's nature to do so,” Rahmandoust added.

On Monday, Kerry held talks with Faisal in Riyadh, where he warned that the window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution "cannot by definition remain open indefinitely.”

The Saudi minister, for his part, said, “The clock is ticking and the negotiations cannot go on forever."

The remarks come despite agreements reached in the latest round of talks between Tehran and the P5+1 group -- comprising the US, the UK, France, China, and Russia plus Germany -- over the Iranian nuclear energy program.

During the meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 27-28, the two sides agreed to meet again in Almaty on April 5-6 to continue the talks after holding “expert-level” talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on March 17-18.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and the EU using this pretext to impose several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Tehran rejects the allegation and maintains that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

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