Official Blames US, Saudi Arabia for Crises in Region

Advisor to the Iranian Parliament Speaker Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in a meeting with Finnish Ambassador to Tehran Keijo Norvanto, said US’ regional policies have claimed 500,000 lives and $400 billion of damage in Syria, adding that Saudi Arabia's totalitarianism is obstructing peace in Yemen.

News ID: 443026

Date: 16 January 2019 - 09:33

RNA - Amir Abdollahian said that “bad politicians” and “bad policies” are part of big problems currently plaguing the Middle East region.

He made the remark in a Monday meeting with Finnish ambassador to Tehran, and the CEO and a number of members of the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI).

During the meeting, Amir Abdollahian highlighted the significance of the CMI activities for the peace and security in the region, adding “the strategic policy of Iran is to contribute to the realization of peace and security in the region”.

Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) is an independent Finnish non-governmental organization that “works to prevent and resolve conflict through informal dialogue and mediation.” It was founded by former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari in 2000.

He then referred to the withdrawal of American troop from Syria, saying “the killing of more than 500,000 Syrians and causing over $400 billion worth of collateral damage to Syria is just the consequence of one of US wrong policies in the region”.

Saudi Arabia's totalitarianism is one of the obstacles to the achievement of peace and security in Yemen, he added.

Noting the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, he said that there was “no good prospect” for the Israeli regime in the region.

The Finnish ambassador, for his part, said the role of Iran is important to resolve many conflicts in the region.

A CMI official also highlighted the significance of dialogue for settling regional crises.

Earlier on December 09,  Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced the self-proclaimed strongmen of the region for causing war and misery, and said that stronger region is what is more needed under the current tumultuous conditions in the Middle East.

He urged all countries of the region to pursue dialogue and respect for international law instead of looking for strongmen, providing a list of most important factors that pave the way for making the region strong.

“What we need is a stronger region rather than strongmen. For this we need dialogue,” and “respect for international law,” Zarif reiterated in his Twitter post.

The top Iranian diplomat also mentioned “inclusion, security networking, economic cooperation, and more people-to-people contact,” as other factors, which can help regional states achieve the goal of having a stronger region.

According to Fars News Agancy, the Iranian foreign minister also took to task the “strongmen,” who have risen to power in the Middle Eastern countries, for the destructive role they have played in the region, noting, “Our region has had far too many strongmen who have only caused war & misery.” He, however, made no direct reference to any specific regional politician.

In another part of his tweet, Zarif brought up some key points included in Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's statement before the regional parliament speakers' conference in Tehran on the requisites for the realization of a stronger region.

Earlier on November 20, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani described his country as a pioneering state in combating terrorism, and said Iran, which is one of the victims of the weapons of mass destruction, is a major opponent of such weapons in the world.

Stating that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the pioneer of fighting terrorism, he said, “Iran is the biggest victim of aggression, terrorism, and the use of weapons of mass destruction."

Rouhani highlighted that Iran's past experience in being victimized by the use of weapons of mass destruction is one of the reasons that now it is "the major state in fighting WMDs".

He added, “Today, we should be –and are- the top country in not letting terrorists take advantage of different financial systems for transferring money."

Iran has announced in numerous occasions that it welcomes bilateral and multilateral cooperation on combatting terrorism in the world, and it has been the major supporter of Iraqi and Syrian governments in their campaign against the ISIL and similar terrorist groups.

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