Iran rejects Mecca’s Arab summit accusations

CAIRO – 31 May 2019: The Iranian administration on Friday voiced rejection to the statement made at an emergency summit of Arab leaders in Mecca to stop the Iranian regime from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz said Iran has been “harboring global and regional terrorist entities and threatening international waterways."

The conference came as tensions between Iran and the United States and its Arab allies are on the rise, raising fears of a possible armed conflict.

The Saudi King further stressed that decisive action was needed to stop Iranian “escalations” in the region following attacks on Gulf oil assets.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi insisted on denying the accusations, completely turning a blind eye on Tehran’s meddling in the region and support for armed terrorist militias like the PMF in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi told Arab heads of state gathered at the conference that the security of Arab Gulf states is intrinsically linked to the national security of Egypt.

In remarks at the summit on Thursday, the Egyptian leader said a recent attack on a Saudi oil pipeline and the alleged sabotage of oil vessels off the coast of the United Arab Emirates represent “explicit acts of terrorism.”

President Sisi stressed that all means should be used to deter the perpetrators of these acts.