Iran Fueling Sectarianism, Division

Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman stressed on Wednesday that Riyadh was keen on achieving security and stability in the Middle East, while Iran has since 1979, been pursuing sectarian and destabilizing agenda.

“The regime in Iran has been fueling sectarianism and division” and has been violating international law through its malicious practices, he told the eighth Moscow Conference on International Security.

Among these practices is its support and armament of terrorist groups, such as its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi militias in Yemen, he continued.

The Iranian people are the first to be harmed by such policies, he noted. “The people deserve to live in stability and harmony with their neighbors.”

Saudi Arabia has not spared any effort in supporting peace to achieve stability in the region and the world, declared Prince Khalid. It has done so through defending international laws and norms and supporting legitimate international institutions without any sectarian and ideological bias.

The Arab world is at a crossroads that demands a firm stance to realize “a bright future for its people. We can either succumb to policies of chaos, destruction and sectarianism that want to take the region backwards or set our priorities straight and take confident steps towards a secure, stable and prosperous future.”

“In the Kingdom, we have made up our minds and we are forging forward towards development and confronting extremist, sectarian and terrorist forces no matter what it takes,” he stressed, while citing Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 that aspires to establish a peaceful and stable future in the region.