Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman has slammed the recent bellicose remarks made by the Saudi crown prince against Tehran as the result of his naivety and superciliousness.
"This delusional novice, who is still too big for his boots, either does not know what war is, or has not studied history, or unfortunately has not talked to a venerable person," Bahram Qassemi said on Friday night.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned that Saudi Arabia may engage in military confrontation against Iran in the future, if tougher international sanctions are not imposed against the Islamic Republic.
"We must achieve this in order to avoid a military conflict, if we fail to do this, we will probably have a war with Iran in 10-15 years," bin Salman said.
Qassemi called on veteran Saudi officials to teach the Saudi crown prince about how former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who enjoyed the support of world powers in the Iraqi war against Iran, failed in ignominy in the face of the "brave Iranian nation's resolve."
The Iranian Foreign Ministry official further warned the Saudi crown prince not to dice with death.
"The ant seeking to grapple with an eagle is hastening to perish," Qassemi said, reciting a verse in Persian from renowned 13th-century poet Saadi Shirazi and calling on the Persian linguists in the Al Saud royal family to translate the verse "accurately" for bin Salman.
Bin Salman’s belligerent comments against Iran were not the first of their kind. The crown prince has repeatedly accused the Islamic Republic of inciting violence across the region and pledged to take the war on Iranian soil.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are currently supporting opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.
Riyadh is widely believed to be a key sponsor of the Takfiri terrorists, who are inspired by Wahhabism, an extremist ideology preached by Saudi clerics.
Tehran has been effectively helping the Syrian government in its fight against those terrorists.
Elsewhere in Yemen, Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition waging a deadly war on Yemen since 2015 to reinstall its former Riyadh-friendly government.
Riyadh accuses Tehran of sponsoring Yemen’s Houthi movement, but the Islamic Republic rejects the claim and urges the kingdom to put an end to the deadly war, which has killed over 14,000 Yemenis.