(Adds Iran’s reaction, Iraqi President’s speech)
By Michelle Nichols and Ghaida Ghantous
NEW YORK / DUBAI, 23 September (Reuters) – Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz pointed to Iran in its debut on Wednesday at the annual assembly of United Nations world leaders, calling for a united front to engage Riyadh’s rival and save him from weapons of mass destruction.
He said Iran had exploited a 2015 nuclear deal with global powers “to accentuate its expansionist activities, create its terrorist networks, and use terrorism,” adding that it had produced “chaos, extremism, and intolerance. “
“A comprehensive solution and a company position abroad is needed,” the 84-year-old Saudi king told the 193-member General Assembly in a pre-recorded video due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The United States, a tough best friend of Saudi Arabia, defected from Iran’s nuclear pact in 2018 and President Donald Trump called it “the worst deal in history. “Since then, Washington has imposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran and says that all countries also restore UN sanctions trying to pressure the Islamic Republic to negotiate a new agreement.
French President Emmanuel Macron told the global framework Tuesday that Washington’s sanctions crusade opposed to Iran had failed.
All remaining parts of the nuclear deal, in addition to former U. S. allies, and thirteen of the 15 members of the UN Security Council say the U. S. claim to UN sanctions is null and void, and diplomats say few countries are likely to re-impose the measures.
“Our delight with the Iranian regime has taught us that partial responses and appeasement have not put an end to their threats to foreign peace and security,” King Salman said.
‘DISARM HEZBOLLAH’
The spokesman for iran’s UN mission, Alireza Miryousefi, rejected what he “unfounded accusations. “
“The unrestruction and unjustified through the Saudi leader only emboldens secure powers that seek to sow discord among the countries of the region with the aim of creating a permanent department and promoting deadly weapons in the region,” he said in an obvious coup to the United States.
Sunni Muslim-majority Saudi Arabia and Shiite-dominated Iran are immersed in several indirect wars in the region, Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Tehran-aligned Houthi motion for five years.
Riyadh blamed Iran for attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities last year, a rate denied through Tehran. Iran denies armed teams in the Middle East, adds the Houthis, and attributes regional tensions to the United States and its Gulf allies.
Trump made only a transient reference to Iran in his speech at the UN on Tuesday, focusing on the attack on China. Iranian President Hassan Rohani told the General Assembly tuesday that Washington cannot impose “negotiations or war” on his country. All UN statements are pre-recorded videos.
Persian Gulf states have also been alarmed by the growing influence of Iran’s ally, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, which rejected the money the government needed to deal with Lebanon’s worst currency crisis in decades.
King Salman said a fatal explosion in Beirut harbor last month “occurred as a result of HezbollahArray hegemony . . . in the decision-making procedure in Lebanon through the force of arms. “Authorities blamed the explosion on a reserve of ammonium nitrate stored in hazardous at the port.
“This terrorist organization will have to be disarmed, ” said the king.
IRAQ WITHOUT ‘PLAYGROUND’
Iraq has been the scene of tension-related violence between the United States and Iran, but seeks to avoid being dragged into a regional conflagration: an attack on U. S. drones killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad Airport in January.
“We don’t need Iraq to be some kind of playground for other forces that commit suicide in our territory. We have noticed enough wars and attacks on our sovereignty,” Iraqi President Barham Salih told the General Assembly on Wednesday.
With regard to attempts to mediate peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the Saudi monarch said a 2002 Arab Peace Initiative is the basis for a “comprehensive and just solution” that assures Palestinians of an independent state with East Jerusalem as their capital.
“We made the efforts of the current US administration to achieve peace in the Middle East by bringing Palestinians and Israelis to the negotiating table to succeed in a fair and comprehensive agreement,” he said.
Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam and its greatest sacred shrines, drafted the 2002 initiative through which Arab nations came to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for a state agreement with the Palestinians and Israel’s general withdrawal from the territory captured in 1967.
The king refrained from approving recent agreements negotiated across the United States through the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to identify relations with Israel, a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries opposed to Iran. Saudi Arabia discreetly accepted the agreements, but noted that it was not in a position to act on its own.
Palestinian leaders condemned the warming of relations between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain with Israel, describing it as a betrayal of their efforts to protect a state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip (additional information through Marwa Rashad, David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick). ; edited through Mary Milliken, Paul Simao and Howard Goller)