Tehran has roundly dismissed Saudi Arabia’s claim of breaking up a “terrorist cell” trained by Iran, advising authorities in Riyadh to choose the path of honesty and wisdom instead of fabricating worthless scenarios.
“The recent Saudi officials’ allegations against the Islamic Republic of Iran are in line with the country’s worthless and repetitive positions over the past years,” the Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzaden said in a statement released on Tuesday.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia claimed to have taken down a “terrorist cell” that had received training from Iran.
A statement published on the state-run Saudi Press Agency on Monday said three of those arrested had been trained in Iran while the rest were “linked to the cell in various roles.”
“Having abandoned political rationality, Saudi rulers have chosen to fabricate fake cases against Iran, this time as part of a mediocre show, as a weapon to divert public opinion and a method to cover up their failures.”
The Iranian diplomat highlighted that repetitive, cliché and worthless accusations will lead nowhere, advising the kingdom’s officials to “choose the path of honesty and wisdom instead of [fabricating] worthless and commissioned scenarios.”
The allegations came days after Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz used his statement to the 75th UN General Assembly (UNGA) to deliver a blistering attack against Iran, blaming the Islamic Republic for much of the Middle East’s instability.
Iranian officials hit back at the Saudi monarch, saying the kingdom was the real source of instability in the region.
“By accusing others, Saudi Arabia is desperately trying to divert attention from its dark and long history of widely supporting terrorism, spreading extremist beliefs, sowing the seeds of discord and hatred, taking destabilizing actions in the region, and committing crimes during the aggression on Yemen over the past six years,” said Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi on September 24.