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Rouhani: Saudi calls Iran an enemy to conceal defeat in region

November 28, 2017 at 9:44 pm

President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech during a vote of confidence session held for 12th term ministers at the Iranian parliament in Tehran, Iran on 15 August, 2017 [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency]

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said today that Saudi Arabia presents Iran as an enemy because it wants to cover up its defeats in the region.

“Saudi Arabia was unsuccessful in Qatar, was unsuccessful in Iraq, in Syria and recently in Lebanon. In all of these areas, they were unsuccessful,” Rouhani said in the interview live on state television. “So they want to cover up their defeats.”

Saudi Arabia and Iran have been battling for dominance in the region most notably in Syria and Yemen.

Recently, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman called the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in an interview with the New York Times, escalating the war of words between the arch-rivals.

Read: Iran warns it would increase missile range if threatened by Europe

Tensions soared this month when Lebanon’s Saudi-allied Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned in a television broadcast from Riyadh, citing the influence of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and risks to his life.

Hezbollah called the move an act of war engineered by Saudi authorities, an accusation they denied.

Hariri returned to Lebanon last week and suspended his resignation but has continued his criticism of Hezbollah.

Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia form a line of resistance in the region that has worked toward stability and achieved “big accomplishments”, Rouhani said in the interview, which was reviewing his first 100 days in office in his second term.