Zarif: Saudis Exporting Hatred Ideology
Local Editor
Iran's foreign minister said the Saudis have long spent their petrodollars to export the extremist Wahhabi ideology, a "death cult" inspiring terror groups, emphasizing that the regime cannot continue to play the "Iran card" to keep its allies on board in this "folly."
In a New York Times op-ed published on Wednesday, Mohammad Javad Zarif said every terrorist group wreaking havoc in the Middle East and Africa in the name of Islam is in fact inspired by Wahhabism, an "ideology of hate and extremism" widely preached in Saudi Arabia.
Zarif further stressed that "much of the violence committed in the name of Islam can be traced to Wahhabism."
Saudi Arabia has been successful in having its Western allies back its push to destabilize the Middle East "based on the false premise that plunging the Arab world into further chaos will somehow damage Iran," he wrote.
So far, the Saudis have been playing the "Iran card" to induce "their allies to go along with their folly, whether in Syria or Yemen," said Zarif, emphasizing, however, that "this will surely change, as the realization grows that Riyadh's persistent sponsorship of extremism repudiates its claim to be a force for stability."
He went on to say that certain Saudi parties have been trying to rebrand the terrorist outfits as "moderates" so they could overtly assist such groups with the backing of Westerners and regional patrons.
As a case in point, he referred to an underway Saudi endeavor to portray the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria as a "moderate" militant group through public relations stunts. The group recently claimed it was splitting from al-Qaeda and renamed itself to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
Zarif also referred to the kingdom leading its allies, including some Persian Gulf Arab states, into its deadly March 2015-present war on Yemen aimed at undermining the Ansarullah revolutionaries, which Riyadh claims receives "Iranian support."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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