MNA – Iranian official Amir-Abdollahian said Trump’s trip to Riyadh most likely follows up on Saudis’ proposal for investment up to $200bn for infrastructure and energy sector.


Iranian Parliament's General Director for International Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Mehr News that the credibility of Saudi regime does not rely on ‘democracy’ and ‘support for its people’; rather, it has always been indebted to its reliance on the US. “In turn, the US uses Saudi Arabia as a tool to achieve its own interests in the region,” he added.

“Ever since Saudi Arabia sunk itself in Yemen’s swamp, it began to think of forming an Arab NATO to attract more support from American and Arab military forces,” he added.

About Trump’s backing of the Arab NATO, he said “the idea for forming an Arab NATO may find coverage in the media, but differences in the Arab world are just too many to allow a union like that to happen.”

About the future of Iran-Saudi Arabia’s relations given the hostile positions against the Islamic Republic and the Saudi regime’s wrong approaches in region, he said “Saudi Arabia wrongly assumes that by relying on foreign powers and raising baseless claims against Iran it can actually introduce itself as the leader of the Muslim world.”

Tehran has always welcomed relations with Riyadh based on mutual respect, he stressed.