Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir stressed that the talks, which took place today, with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, and the GCC foreign ministers, showed identical views to a large extent on a number of issues of concern to the region’s security .
During a news conference after the joint ministerial meeting of foreign ministers of the GCC with the British Foreign Secretary, the minister said that Iran has isolated itself by launching ballistic missiles, and sent militias to several countries, including Syria and Iraq, stressing that what Iran is doing about interference in the internal affairs of neighboring countries is rejected and it is punished today as a result of its support for terrorism as it smuggled weapons to Bahrain and Yemen.
He pointed out that Iran is smuggling weapons to Bahrain and Yemen, and is thus guilty of violating international laws, and that Iran should change its policy, and its presence in Iraq is unacceptable, and it should not interfere in the affairs of the region, especially the state of Iraq.
He confirmed that Iran refused to sign the agreement organizing the Hajj affairs for this year due to claiming benefits outside the framework of the organization, and this is unacceptable, he said, “The Iranians returned to sign the agreement and they had requests for visas to be granted to the Iranians through the Internet, and it was done, and they demanded to transfer their pilgrims by Iran’s national carrier, and they asked to have a representative, and the kingdom agreed on it, and this is evidence of the kingdom’s keenness to facilitate the needs of the pilgrims, and enable them to perform their rituals; however, they refused to sign the agreement organizing the affairs of the pilgrims.”
He pointed out that Iran’s goal was evasiveness and not enable its pilgrims to perform the rituals, and that’s too bad, stressing that the kingdom attaches great importance to the security of the pilgrims and Umrah performers, and does not prevent anyone from performing the Hajj or Umrah pointing out that the kingdom consults with more than 70 countries in order to coordinate and organize the affairs of Hajj and Umrah.
On the talks with the British Foreign Minister, the Minister Al-Jubeir said, “We discussed with the British Foreign Minister the peace process in the Middle East and the importance of reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on international legitimacy resolutions, pointing out that positions with Britain are identical to a large extent with the positions of the kingdom and the Gulf Arab states, on the subject of Syria, in addition to discussion of how to apply the Geneva decisions “1” and the resolutions of the Security Council 2254 in Syria.
The Foreign Minister said that he discussed the issue of Iraq, which was agreed upon in 2014, and how to involve all groups and Iraqi communities, and dealing with the Iraqi government in the face of extremism and in particular “Daash,” and discussion of the latest developments in the case of Yemen and the talks in Kuwait.
He praised efforts made by the State of Kuwait in connection with the Yemeni talks and also was discussed the subject of the idea of rebuilding in Yemen which was adopted by the leaders of GCC member states last year and which Britain wants to be a partner with us in it.
The minister stressed the importance of supporting the government of Libyan Prime Minister Faez Seraj, and reconciliation among the Libyan parties and the restoration of Libya’s institutions, particularly the security ones to counter extremism and prevent the “Daash” from spreading in Libya.
Al-Jubeir said, “The relations with Iran and the importance of Iran’s commitment to the principle of good neighborliness and non-interference in the affairs of countries in the region were discussed” as well as the role that could be played by Britain in support of the GCC economic programs.
For his part, the British foreign minister expressed identical views with the Saudi and GCC side.
The British minister expressed his country’s readiness and willingness to contribute to the achievement of the kingdom vision 2030, which he described as daring and ambitious, in order to move the kingdom to a better future, drawing attention to the fact that bilateral relations with the kingdom exceeded 100 years.
