Despotic Saudi Regime Threatens Iran
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
During Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s US charm offensive tour, including his heavily armed entourage invading Harvard on Saturday for discussions with university professors and Boston area college presidents, Riyadh threatened Iran - not the first time or last.
On Monday, the Saudis replicated an earlier Nikki Haley stunt - holding an orchestrated invitation-only press conference, displaying props lacking credibility, pretending they represented “evidence of missiles, conventional arms, and explosive boats of Iranian origin used by” Houthi fighters in Yemen.
The presentation fell flat. Yemen has been blockaded since March 2015, inadequate amounts of humanitarian aid allowed in, no evidence of Houthis supplied with Iranian or other foreign weapons.
Yet Saudis displayed what they falsely claimed were fragments of of Iranian ballistic missiles supplied to Houthi fighters, spokesman Turki al-Malki saying:
“The missiles launched against Saudi territory were smuggled from Iran. (We) reserve the right to respond against Iran at the right time and right place.”
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) deputy commander for political affairs General Yadollah Javani denounced the false accusation, saying:
“The Saudis with the help of the Americans, Zionists, and some other reactionary regional governments have…been committing major crimes and attacking the oppressed nation of Yemen over the past three years,” adding:
Air, land and sea blockade prevents foreign weapons and most everything else from entering the country.
Falsely blaming Iran about supplying weapons to Houthi fighters is a diversionary tactic, attempting to shift attention from Saudi atrocities, responsible for countless thousands of Yemeni deaths, along with creating the world’s severest humanitarian crisis.
After three years of US-orchestrated, Saudi-led terror-bombing, Riyadh met its match in combat with Houthis.
According to Iranian General Javani, “(t)his is an achievement that (was) inconceivable to the Saudis” - seeking ways to cover up its embarrassing failure.
Houthis produce their own missiles, unable to have them any other way.
According to Yemen’s human rights ministry, three years of Saudi aggression killed or injured over 600,000 civilians, along with responsibility for a cholera epidemic, other diseases gone untreated, severe malnutrition and starvation, young children harmed most.
Several Western nations are allied with Riyadh’s genocidal campaign, notably America and Britain, the kingdom’s leading suppliers of heavy and other weapons.
Aside from UN and in-country NGO reports, the world community largely pretends not to notice what’s going on - complicit with the Saudis for not condemning them.
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