Jubeir fires back after Iran blames attack on Riyadh
A senior Saudi diplomat on Monday
fired back after Iran initially blamed the kingdom for an attack last week that
killed 27 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, Associated Press
reported.
Adel al-Jubeir, the minister of state for foreign affairs,
called Iran a “chief sponsor of terrorism,” saying its allegations sought to
divert the attention of the Iranian people from the country’s own troubles.
“Saudi Arabia has been the victim of terrorism,” he added,
saying the kingdom would continue to be “unmerciful” in going after terrorists
and those who finance and condone them.
The comments came as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was
concluding a two-day visit to Pakistan. Jubeir, the kingdom’s former foreign
minister, is part of the prince’s entourage.
Iranian officials had at first said that Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates were behind Wednesday’s bombing near the Pakistani border,
but later said the attack was planned from “inside Pakistan.” The militant
Sunni group Jaish al-Adl, which claimed responsibility, is believed to operate
from havens in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah
Mahmood Qureshi told his Iranian counterpart on Sunday that Islamabad would
fully cooperate in the investigation into the attack on the Revolutionary
Guard. Pakistan has also pledged to act if Tehran shares evidence against those
linked to the attack.
On Monday, three Pakistani security officials said a search
operation was underway in remote southwestern regions bordering Iran in an
effort to arrest suspects linked to attacks in Pakistan and Iran. They said the
security forces were searching areas where Tehran believed insurgents
responsible for last week’s attack might be hiding.
The officials said the operation began Sunday and was expanded
after militants killed six Pakistani paramilitary troops in two attacks in the
southwestern towns of Turbat and Loralai.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were
not authorized to brief media, said Pakistani and Iranian officials have been
in touch since the attack.
Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, the head of Iran’s armed forces,
said the Pakistani army had launched an operation near the border. He urged
Pakistan to confront armed groups or “let Iranian forces enter the
battlefield.”
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia signed agreements worth $20 billion to
help Pakistan overcome its financial crisis.
Pakistan voiced support for the prince during the international
outcry after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in
October. The kingdom has long provided aid to Pakistan, and signed an agreement
for a $6 billion assistance package after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan
attended an investment conference that month that saw a wave of cancellations.
Pakistani President Arif Alvi on
Monday conferred the country’s highest civilian honor on the Saudi crown
prince, who left Pakistan amid tight security. Khan drove the prince to the
airport.
Prince Mohammad is expected to
travel onward to neighboring India, which has warned Pakistan of a “crushing
response” to the suicide bombing of a paramilitary convoy in Indian-controlled
Kashmir that killed 41 people on Thursday.
In a joint statement Monday, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
reiterated their commitment to continue combating extremism and terrorism and
promoting peace in Afghanistan.
The Afghan Taliban were scheduled to hold talks with the United
States in Islamabad on Monday, but they postponed them, saying most members of
their negotiating team were unable to travel because they are blacklisted by
the US and the United Nations. The Taliban maintain a political office in
Qatar, where members of the negotiating team reside.
