Rafsanjani: Saudi Arabia Facing Risk of Overflow of Terrorism

(FNA)- Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warned that Saudi Arabia is exposed to the risk of the spread of terrorism to that country.

"I believe everyone who supports terrorism will eventually realize his mistake," Rafsanjani told the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun when asked by the newspaper about Saudi Arabia's military and financial supports for the opponents of President Bashar Al-Assad.

He noted that Riyadh is facing the risk of terrorism and the flow of terrorists to Saudi Arabia.

Asked about reaching a final agreement between Iran and the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany), the chairman of Iran's Expediency Council reiterated that finding an agreement would be tough if other nations, including France and Britain, deny Tehran's "(inalienable) right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful use."

Asked whether Iran has dispatched troops to Iraq, Rafsanjani said Iran has sent some military advisors to Iraq to provide consultations to the Iraqi army which is facing setbacks in its fight against the Takfiri Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) forces loyal to a militant group called the Islamic State, which aims to set up a theocratic state in the region.

"We've been advising and will be advising on security issues," Rafsanjani said, adding, "Under the principles of the Iranian government, there will be no military intervention."

He also pointed to the status quo of Iran-Japan relations, and said, "Iran is prepared to cooperate with Japan if it takes a more independent stance."

"If Japan seeks a deeper relationship, it will have to seriously consider its relationship with the United States," he said, adding, "It (Japan) should not simply follow the orders of the United States."

Iranian officials have lashed out at Saudi Arabia for supporting Takfiri terrorist groups in Iraq, and said Riyadh's support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant will backfire soon.

"Saudi Arabia's support for the terrorist groups, including the ISIL and Takfiris, is a plot which will eventually entrap that country too," member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Hassan Asafari said last month.

Asafari pointed to the increasing moves and activities of ISIL terrorist group near the borders with Saudi Arabia, and said, "Saudi Arabia is the spiritual, material and ideological supporter of the ISIL and the Saudi king had tasked the country's former intelligence chief with a special mission to support the ISIL."

The senior Iranian legislator noted that ISIL is only looking for war-mongering and bloodshed in the region, and said, "Shiites and Sunnis are no different to this group as they just want to have a show-off in the world media through terrorism, insecurity, murder and pillage of the public assets."