Riyadh:
A senior Saudi minister on Tuesday lashed out at Iran’s foreign minister for implying Riyadh played a function in the assassination of major nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Fakhrizadeh was killed on Friday immediately after his car or truck and bodyguards had been targeted in a bomb and gun attack on a important road outdoors the capital Tehran, heightening tensions amongst Iran and its foes.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday stated on Instagram that a covert meeting in Saudi Arabia amongst Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contributed to the assassination, alleging it was a “conspiracy”.
“Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif is desperate to blame the kingdom for anything negative that happens in Iran,” Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, wrote on Twitter. “Will he blame us for the next earthquake or flood?”
“It is not the policy of Saudi Arabia to engage in assassinations,” he added.
Unlike other Gulf states, Saudi Arabia — a Sunni powerhouse locked in a decades-old rivalry with Shiite energy Iran — has not formally condemned the assassination.
Last month, Netanyahu held landmark talks in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to Israeli media reports and an Israeli government supply.
Netanyahu and Mossad spy agency chief Yosef Meir Cohen met Prince Mohammed, collectively with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the planned Red Sea city of NEOM, these sources stated.
But Riyadh denied any such meeting took spot.
Saudi Arabia has no official diplomatic ties with Israel, but each sides are furtively constructing relations on the basis of shared animosity towards Iran.
The New York Times stated an American official and two other intelligence officials confirmed Israel was behind the attack on Fakhrizadeh.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has accused Israel of attempting to build “chaos” by assassinating the scientist, but stated his nation will not fall into a “trap”.
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