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Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz has urged Arab nations to promote a genuine partnership with the United States of America and fight “the forces of evil and extremism” together. He made the remarks at the historic Arab Islamic American Summit over the weekend in Riyadh, where he and U.S. President Donald Trump urged more than 50 leaders from the Arab and Muslim world to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.

King Salman thanked President Trump for visiting Saudi Arabia on his first official trip abroad. He praised the Kingdom’s partnership with the U.S., which he said was aimed at achieving “peace, security and positive development.”

“We are meeting today at this summit to express the seriousness in taking rapid steps to promote a genuine partnership with the friendly United States of America in a way that serves our common interests and contributes to achieving security, peace and development for all mankind, which is confirmed by our Islamic religion,” said King Salman.

“Due to our responsibility before God and then before our peoples and the world, we have to stand united to fight the forces of evil and extremism whatever their source,” said King Salman.

King Salman criticized Iran for “rejecting good neighborliness” and instead pursuing regional expansion, engaging in criminal behavior, interfering with other countries’ internal affairs and violating international law.

“The Iranian regime has been the spearhead of terrorism since the Khomeini revolution until today,” said King Salman.

Following the Summit, King Salman and President Trump inaugurated the Center for Combating Extremist Ideology. The Center will work to counter and prevent the spread of extremism by promoting moderation, compassion and productive dialogue.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said that Iran was the “biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.” He made the remarks in an address before the Munich Security Conference. Minister Al-Jubeir cited several covert, political and military actions carried out by Iran to buttress his argument.

He also outlined the Kingdom’s view of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the crises in Syria and Yemen and said Saudi Arabia was optimistic about working with the U.S. administration to resolve many of the crises in the region today.

“One of the biggest factors I think that will help to resolve many of these challenges is the new American administration,” said Minister Al-Jubeir. “We expect to see America engaged in the world. And we expect to see a realistic American foreign policy, and we look forward to working with this administration very, very closely.”

Minister Al-Jubeir said that Iran is a destabilizing force in the region and “remains the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.” He said, “The Iranians do not believe in the principle of good neighborliness or non-interference in the affairs of others. This is manifested in their interference in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan.”

The foreign minister noted that Iran was the only country in the region that has not been attacked by either Al-Qaeda or Daesh.

“We look at the region and we see terrorism and we see a state sponsor of terrorism that is determined to upend the order in the Middle East,” he said. “The Iranians are the only country in the region that has not been attacked by either Daesh or Al-Qaeda. And this begs the question why? If Daesh and Al-Qaeda are extremist Sunni organizations, you would think they would be attacking Iran, a Shiite state. But they have not. Could it be that there’s a deal between them that prevents them or causes them not to attack the Iranians? This is a question that we keep asking ourselves.”

Minister Al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia is hopeful that Iran will change, but that Iran ultimately will be judged by its actions, not its words.

“When the Iranians send weapons in violation of UN Security Council resolutions to the Houthis in Yemen, that’s an action,” he said.  “When the Iranians send Shiite militias to fight in support of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, that’s action. When the Iranians plant terror cells in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia and in other places, that’s action. The action is more important than the words”.

 

  • February 20, 2017

Speaking in Paris on Monday 16 January 2017, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir expressed support for the efforts being made to advance the peace process in Syria. Mr Al-Jubeir met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on the sidelines of the Middle East Peace Conference that took place in the French capital over the weekend. At the conference it was announced that the EU will host a conference on Syria and the region in Brussels in Spring 2017 focussing on the political process towards a transition. The aims of the conference are to take stock of the state of play of UN talks in Geneva; humanitarian work and support for resilience and stabilisation, to assess progress in implementing commitments made at last year’s conference in London and to identify possible gaps and how to address them, and possible support to post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation once a credible political transition is firmly underway.

Minister Al-Jubeir’s comments were also reflected in the UN Security Council meeting of 17 January, where the Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi said the Kingdom would continue to participate in all international efforts towards achieving a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis. He expressed support for Council resolution 2336 (2016), which had called for a peaceful transition for Syria, as well as several General Assembly resolutions, including one which had called for the establishment of a mechanism to gather and document evidence and hold to account those responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity. He underlined that the oppression by the Syrian regime, with the support of the Russian Federation, Iran, Hezbollah and other community militias, must come to an end, and the people of Syria must be able to determine their own political future.

Russia, Iran and Turkey’s proposed talks in the Kazakh capital Astana next week aim to reach a cease-fire in Syria. Mr Al-Jubeir said that these talks were worth testing, but should not be construed as Riyadh abandoning moderate opposition groups fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. “The objective is to arrive at a cease-fire and move on to the political process. Let us test it. So far it has not succeeded,” he said. “If it does, then we go down the political path, but that does not mean we abandon the moderate opposition.”

At their session, chaired by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh on Monday afternoon, the Cabinet discussed the outcome of the International Conference for Peace in the Middle East. Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Adel Al-Jubeir represented the Kingdom at the conference in Paris, which concluded its activities yesterday with a joint statement. The cabinet reiterated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s stance on the Palestinian issue is that there must be a two-state solution and that United Nations Security Council’s relevant resolutions are the only basis for resolving the conflict which was adopted by Arab Peace Initiative and has received the support of the international community.