Local Editor
Saudi Arabia slammed the West’s policies on Iran and Syria, threatening to act on its own to “safeguard security” in the region.
The remarks were made by a top Saudi diplomat, Prince Mohammad bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, who said: “We believe that many of the West’s policies on both Iran and Syria risk the stability and security of the Middle East.”
“This is a dangerous gamble, about which we cannot remain silent, and will not stand idly by,” the Saudi prince wrote in a commentary in the New York Times.
The bluntly-worded warning was the latest in a series of public statements by senior Saudi figures expressing displeasure with US and Western diplomatic policies on Syria and Iran.
Until recently, Saudi leaders rarely voiced public criticism of their Western allies in a decades-long partnership.
Rather than challenging the Syrian and Iranian governments, some of our Western partners have refused to take much-needed action against them.
“The West has allowed one regime to survive and the other to continue its program for uranium enrichment, with all the consequent dangers of weaponization,” he wrote.
Diplomatic talks with Iran may “dilute” the West’s will to confront both Damascus and Tehran, he said.
“What price is ‘peace’ though, when it is made with such regimes?”.
As a result, Saudi Arabia “has no choice but to become more assertive in international affairs: more determined than ever to stand up for the genuine stability our region so desperately needs,” the prince added.
The Gulf monarchy had “global responsibilities,” both political and economic, and he said: “We will act to fulfill these responsibilities, with or without the support of our Western partners.”
Source: Al Manar
