07 September, 2017
Al-Jubeir said that "Iran is destabilizing the region through Hezbollah and terrorist attacks, while al-Qaeda leaders in Iran have given orders to carry out attacks in the Kingdom".
Both major oil producers, Iran is a majority-Shiite Muslim country and Saudi Arabia is majority-Sunni Muslim. and they have been locked in a battle for influence for decades.
"We can not buy security from the outside [world]".
"Show me one individual in Saudi Arabia on a United Nations sanctions list for financing terrorism, and I will show you one person in jail", said the foreign minister.
Relations between Iran and Saudi have deteriorated in recent years, with the regional rivals supporting opposite sides in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
On Yemen, Al-Jubeir stressed that the Arab alliance deals in Yemen under worldwide law, noting that "Sana'a airport can be reopened if the United Nations takes over".
"We thank Saudi Arabia. for adopting a new approach in dealing with Iranian pilgrims", said Ali Ghazi-Askar, the head of the Haj organisation in Tehran, according to the state broadcaster.
"The hajj is a religious obligation, it has nothing to do with politics", he added, referring to the pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia has dismissed any immediate possibility of reconciliation with Iran, saying the kingdom "does not see any seriousness by Tehran in dialogue and diplomatic cooperation".
The top Saudi diplomat dismissed the possibility of rekindling ties between the two nations, saying that Iran would first need to rework its foreign policy and that any recent diplomatic visits occurred exclusively on the basis of coordinating the return of Iranian worshipers to the annual Islamic pilgrimage, known as Hajj, which Tehran boycotted a year ago due to a deadly 2015 stampede.
Last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that if the hajj was held smoothly, it would be easier for the two countries to resolve their issues.
