Arab League’s Anti-Iran Statement Not to Change Facts: Senior Diplomat
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari extends his congratulations on the recent victories of the Resistance front in the fight against Daesh and the liberation of the Syrian city, Abu Kamal. “I am pleased that intensive efforts and sacrifices over the past few years in the fight with terrorism and extremism in the region are now bearing fruit,” he said, according to quotes published by Iranian state-run news agency ISNA.
Speaking during a funeral ceremony held for foreign ministry spokesman Bahrahm Ghassemi’s father, Jaberi Ansari called terrorism and extremism a cancer for the Islamic nation, saying the fight against the terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria has led to good results in the recent months. “We are seeing the military end of Daesh in Iraq and Syria, which is a landmark victory for the nations in the region,” he added.
In response to the Arab League’s extraordinary meeting in Cairo, which led to the issuance of an anti-Iran statement, Jaberi Ansari said the statement was issued under Saudi pressure, and the country’s extensive political propaganda, under the name the Arab League. He went on to say the statement contradicted many Arab states’ policies to expand ties with Tehran.
Saying Saudi Arabia knows where to go if it wants to resolve regional issues, the deputy foreign minister urged Saudi Arabia to stop throwing support behind Zionist policies in the region, end its support for terrorist groups, and instead back regional and international efforts to resolve the region’s current crises. “These are common solutions and Saudi Arabia cannot go on by repeating false claims and distorting the facts. The false and repetitive statement issued under Saudi pressure will not change anything,” Jaberi Ansari reiterated.
Jaberi Ansari said the KSA should end its military campaigns in Bahrain and Yemen if they are honest in their claims, further adding that the country’s interventions in domestic affairs of countries in the regions including Qatar, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. They should stop using terrorism as a means to advance their own intentions, he added. “Today, Saudi policies have pave the ground for the spread of insecurity and instability in the region and the world. It is a fact and false, repetitive statements will not change the facts,” ISNA quoted the senior diplomat as saying.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he said Russian President has invited Iranian and Turkish presidents for a trilateral meeting to be held in Sochi on Wednesday. According to Jaberi Ansari, senior experts from the three parties to Astana talks have met in Tehran on Saturday. Another trilateral meeting attended by the three foreign ministers was held in Antalya on Sunday. The deputy foreign minister said the a draft statement for the Sochi summit has been prepared in the experts meeting. These efforts are in line with the sides’ measures to end the Syrian crisis, he added.
The Sochi meeting, Jaberi Ansari said, is a sequel to seven round of Astana peace talks, aimed to review measures undertaken to resolve the crisis and decide on efforts that should be made in the fight against terrorism.