Adel al-Jubeir says Iran does not respect sovereignty of nations

In remarks at the Chatham House, a London-based think tank, al-Jubeir said that the Iranian regime “does not respect the principle of non-interference in the affairs of other countries.”

Al-Jubeir added that “Iran, since the Iranian revolution, has been on a rampage attacking embassies in Beirut. Attack US Marines at Beirut International Airport, hijack, kidnapping and murdering diplomats in Beirut. Disturbing the Hajj in Saudi Arabia in the late 80s, attacking our embassy in the late 80s in Tehran, assassinating diplomats of Saudi Arabia and a number of countries, as well as diplomats from other countries. They blew up Khobar Towers in 1996.”

“They blew up Khobar Towers in 1996. Their military attaché in Bahrain at the time, General Sharif, who was the ringleader. The Saudis who were involved in it fled to Iran. And they haven’t come back since. One of them we captured in Beirut or was captured in Beirut several years ago with an Iranian passport, not a Saudi passport. Even though he’s a Saudi. They have blown up Synagogues in Argentina. They have assassinated people in Europe. They have blown up facilities in Europe. And the list goes on and on,” said al-Jubeir.

Related: Attack on Aramco a serious threat to region’s security, says King Salman

He added that Iran and “after the 9/11 attacks and the attack against Afghanistan, the virtual board of directors of al-Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden’s son, moved to Tehran and Iran gave them shelter. You don’t do this.”

“The Iranians are responsible for more than 90 percent of the world’s IED (Improvised explosive device) that terrorists use in order to kill people,” al-Jubeir pointed out.

Al-Jubeir added “we have captured Iranian operatives in Saudi Arabia scoping and trying to destroy critical infrastructure. We have caught them trying to recruit Saudis in order to cause mischief and murder in Saudi Arabia.”

He said Iran’s hands extend to a number of Arab countries, pointing out that “Bahrain is suffering on a daily basis from Iranian attempts to send explosives and operatives into Bahrain to destabilize it. In Kuwait, al-Abdali cell was discovered, which is probably the largest terrorist cell in history.”

Criticizing Iran’s attempts to reach out to neighboring countries to mediate with Saudi Arabia while it continues with its destructive behavior in the region, al-Jubeir said “at the very same time that the Iranians are asking the Kuwaitis to try to mediate between them and the GCC, that’s not the behavior of a country that wants to have good ties with you.”

Al-Jubeir added that the order - behind the explosions which targeted three housing compounds in Riyadh in 2003 - “was given by the chief of al-Qaeda’s operations, Saif al-Adel while he was in Iran. We know this because we have the phone conversation.”