A senior Iranian official says the recent deadly terror attacks in Tehran were carried out by the request of Saudi Arabia’s security services.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a special adviser on international affairs to the Iranian parliament speaker, made the remarks during a meeting with Vietnam’s ambassador to Iran on Wednesday.
“The existing documents are proof of the US and Saudi Arabia’s continued manipulation of terrorism in the region and the world,” he said.
“Their strategy and policy is to draw out regional crises in order to carry out their own agendas such as arms sales,” Amir-Abdollahian added.
After the attacks, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that his country had obtained intelligence showing that Saudi Arabia was “actively” propping up terrorist groups along Iranian eastern and western borders.
Riyadh has severed its diplomatic relations with Iran. The Tehran attacks came hot on the heels of especially adversarial comments and threats by high-ranking Saudi authorities.
Last month, Mohammed bin Salman said Saudi Arabia would work to move “the battle” to Iran.
Also, on June 6, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iran had to be “punished” for what he called “its interference in the region.” The Tehran attacks happened less than a day later.
On June 7, gunmen mounted almost simultaneous assaults on Iran’s Parliament and the Mausoleum of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini, which killed 18 people and injured 50 more. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assaults. Iran has arrested dozens of terrorists since the Tehran attacks.