President Rouhani: Saudi Arabia executes Sheikh Nimr to cover internal issues, failure in regional policies

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says Saudi Arabia’s recent move to sever diplomatic relations with Iran was aimed at covering the failure of Riyadh’s regional policies and undermining peace in the region.

“Saudi Arabia’s objective behind severing diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran and encouraging and pressuring other countries to follow suit is to harm the process of peace, stability and security in the region,” Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Emphasizing that Saudi measures aim to cover up the regime’s domestic problems and its recent failures in the region, the Iranian president added that Riyadh’s regional policies have only led to oppression, aggression and spread of terrorism and aim to undermine stability and security in the region.

Referring to Saudi Arabia’s financial and arms support for terrorist groups in the Middle East, its military campaign against Yemen, and Riyadh’s efforts to prevent victory of Iraqi and Syrian governments over terrorists, the Iranian president noted that through these efforts, Riyadh seeks to create sectarian strife between Sunnis and Shias and fuel tensions in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran on Sunday following demonstrations held in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad by angry protesters who slammed the Al Saud family for the killing of the top Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Following the severance of Tehran-Riyadh ties, Bahrain and Sudan also cut relations with Iran while the United Arab Emirates downgraded its relations with the Islamic Republic.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani said Saudi Arabia along with the Israeli regime did their best from the very beginning of Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the world powers to undermine the talks, adding that they continue their “plot” to hamper the implementation of the agreement, but they will finally fail.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany – reached an agreement over Iran's nuclear program after marathon talks in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

Under the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic related to its nuclear program.




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