US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has addressed a gathering of notorious anti-Iran terrorist and separatist groups in a bid to urge action against Iranian "aggression." RNA - Speaking at the United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) 2019 summit in New York on Wednesday, Pompeo called on world countries to stand with the US alongside Israel, announcing new sanctions against Iran and blaming Tehran for backing "terrorist groups".
The summit, which was being held on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, is reported to be dominated by terrorist groups such as the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).
Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi described the UANI as an American "cover organization" closely tied to terror groups, adding that Tehran would consider blacklisting the UANI as a terrorist group.
Senior official from Saudi Arabia, Israel and Bahrain also took part in the anti-Iran meeting.
Speaking at the summit on Wednesday, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir accused Iran of terrorism and of being behind the recent Yemeni-claimed attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, an allegation firmly rejected by Tehran.
Jubeir said that Riyadh was considering political and military options in response to the attacks.
Saudi Arabia has forged close links with separatist and terrorist groups seeking to operate in Iran, most notably the MKO. In May 2017, Saudi Arabia, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, pledged to take "the battle" to Iran.
Washington, which had labeled the MKO as a terror organization until dropping the designation in 2012, has also considerably stepped up support for the group and other like-minded terror organization targeting Iran.
The increasingly confrontational approach against Tehran by Tel Aviv, Riyadh and Washington has, nonetheless, raised concerns about a probable disastrous military quagmire in the region.
On Wednesday, numerous peace activists attempted to interrupt the UNIA summit in protest against Washington's provocative campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran.
Code Pink, a grassroots anti-war NGO based in the US, reported a number of the demos, showing protesters at times being violently dragged away from the event.
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