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Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Monday said that Iran should withdraw its “occupying” forces in Syria in order to resolve the conflict in the war-torn country.
“Our reservations are about Iran’s policy in the region, not about Iran as a country or people”, Prince Saud said at a joint conference in Jeddah after meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
“In many conflicts, Iran is part of the problem, not the solution”, he said, charging that the majority-Shiite Iran has forces in Syria “fighting Syrians”.
Prince Saud added that “in this case, we can say that Iranian forces in Syria are occupying forces” aiding President Bashar al-Assad, whom he called an “illegitimate” leader.
Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-ruled Gulf countries back rebel groups battling Assad since 2011. Assad receives military and financial aid from Iran, which denies that it has fighters on the ground in Syria. He also receives support from Hezbollah, the Lebanese pro-Iran Shiite movement.
“If Iran wants to be part of the solution in Syria, it has to pull its forces from Syria. The same applies elsewhere, whether in Yemen or Iraq.If it wants to be part of the solution, welcome. But if it continues to be part of the problem, it cannot play any role in the region”, Prince Saud said.
Iran has also been accused of supporting Yemeni Shiite rebels who took over Yemen’s capital city Sana’a on September 21st.
Sharing the common thread of Shiite Islam, Iraq and Iran have grown closer since the toppling of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein during the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Among the many forces fighting against Assad is the Islamic State (IS), which five Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, are not battling under the US-led coalition; the Arab countries have either taken part in or have given their support to the coalition’s air campaign in Syria.
