International Shia News Agency

Ayatollah Khatami criticizes Saudi Arabia for supporting terrorist groups

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)- Tehran’s interim Friday prayers leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami, has strongly criticized misleading anti-Iran remarks by the Saudi foreign minister, Saud Al-Faisal, emphasizing that Saudi Arabia is involved in funding of various terrorist groups, such as ISIL.

 

According to IRIB World Service, addressing a huge crowd of Friday prayers worshippers and the faithful in Tehran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami referred to earlier comments by the Saudi foreign minister, Saud Al-Faisal, who had claimed that Iran was “part of the problem”. Ayatollah Khatami pointedly asked: “Is there anyone who doesn’t know that Saudi Arabia’s petro-dollars have created and funded the Takfiri terrorist group, ISIL, and virtually every terrorist attack within the world of Islam is funded by the Saudi government.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Monday, Faisal claimed Iran was “part of the problem, not the solution” in the Middle East, alleging that Tehran “cannot play any role in the region” if its policies remain unchanged.

Commenting on Faisal’s remarks, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami pointedly added: “Saudi Arabia is linked to all the problems of this region, and the anger of Saudi officials is quite understandable, since they have spent tens of millions of dollars to overthrow the legitimate and elected governments of Iraq and Syria, but their efforts have come to naught.

Turning to the controversial court ruling in Saudi Arabia, Ayatollah Khatami strongly condemned the death sentence handed down by a Saudi court to prominent Saudi Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr Bagher Al-Nimr, and warned Saudi officials that carrying out this death sentence will cost Saudi Arabia dearly. He said if the death sentence is carried out, it will have serious repercussions for the country. Ayatollah Khatami described the death sentence as Draconian and unfair. Sheikh Nimr has been accused of supporting revolutionaries in Bahrain and anti-government activities in Saudi Arabia.

Turning to the presidential elections in Iran in 2009, Tehran’s interim Friday prayers Leader emphasized that the enemies tried to confront the Islamic Republic by engaging in sedition. He added: “On one side we had the seditionists and monarchists and the other side we had the masses of the Iranian people who supported whole-heartedly the rule of the Supreme Jurist (Velayat-e- Faqih). Ayatollah Khatami added: “The seditionists did not accept the result of the presidential elections and resorted to rioting, vandalism, and attacking ordinary people. They even attacked mourners of Imam Hussein (PBUH), (the third Shiite Imam) on the Day of Ashura”.

Tehran’s interim Friday prayers Leader also referred to the anniversary of founding of Iran’s intelligence ministry, emphasizing that the intelligence ministry has served this country well since the day it was founded, managing to neutralize (foil ) numerous enemy plots and conspiracies against the Islamic Republic over the years.

 

 

Source:IRIB.ir

www.shafaqna.com

 

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