Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Saudi Arabia to abandon its hostile policies against the regional states, including Iran, warning that escalation of the crisis by Riyadh might meet Iran's crushing response.
"Saudi Arabia doesn’t have a good behavior towards the regional states," Rouhani said, addressing a press conference in Tehran on Sunday.
He referred to Riyadh's war against Yemen and its mismanagement of the Hajj ceremony, and said, "Saudi Arabia has chosen a wrong path for itself and we hope that it will not continue this path and return to a path beneficial to the (Muslim) community."
"What we want is settlement of the regional issues based on logic but meantime our nation and government doesn’t accept undiplomatic and incorrect behaviors and will give a firm response to certain behaviors, if necessary," Rouhani warned.
In relevant remarks on Friday, Iranian Supreme Leader's top adviser for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati blamed Saudi Arabia's unacceptable policies throughout the past years for the current standoff between Tehran and Riyadh.
"I believe the recent tension started because of the wrong policies of the Saudis who tried to isolated Iran on the international scene," Velayati told reporters.
Velayati underlined that Iran pays heed to interaction with its neighboring states, and said, “It is impossible in the arena of foreign policy to make a decision without taking the opposite side’s demands into consideration."
He reminded Riyadh that even the powerful countries are currently seeking to interact with Iran based on mutual respect due to the Islamic Republic’s regional and international status.
Also last Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the threat of terrorism posed to the region derives from the Takfiri and extremist thoughts promoted and financed by Saudi Arabia.
"Takfiri and extremist thoughts are the main threats to the region and originate from the thoughts and backed up by the financial resources that come from Saudi Arabia," Zarif said in a meeting with former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Tehran.
The Iranian foreign minister reiterated the role of Saudi Arabia's extremist thoughts in destabilizing the region, and said, "In my letter to the foreign ministers of different countries, I have explained in real terms Saudi Arabia's Iranophobic approaches and measures over the past two years, although all throughout this period we have shown rational tolerance against all of their negative measures, including sexual assault on two Iranian youngsters and the Mina incident which left a bad impact on the sentiments of the Iranian nation, through exercising the policy of self-restraint."
Zarif reiterated that the tension-creating approaches of Saudi Arabia are propaganda shows.
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