WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has called Iran the "biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world."


Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir made the remark Sunday in an address before the Munich Security Conference, citing several covert, political and military actions carried out by Iran to buttress his argument.

"The Iranians do not believe in the principle of good neighborliness or non-interference in the affairs of others. This is manifested in their interference in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan," he said.

"We look at the region and we see terrorism and we see a state sponsor of terrorism that is determined to upend the order in the Middle East," he continued. "The Iranians are the only country in the region that has not been attacked by either Daesh or al-Qaida. And this begs the question: Why? If Daesh and al-Qieda are extremist Sunni organizations, you would think they would be attacking Iran, a Shiite state. But they have not. Could it be that there's a deal between them that prevents them or causes them not to attack the Iranians? This is a question that we keep asking ourselves."

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday called for a dialogue to address "anxieties" in the Middle East, according to a Reuters report. In response to a question about whether Israel would be involved in the dialogue, the minister was quoted as saying: "I'm focusing on the Persian Gulf. We have enough problems in this region so we want to start a dialogue with countries we call brothers in Islam."
   
Al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia is hopeful that Iran will change, but that Iran ultimately will be judged by its actions, not its words.

"When the Iranians send weapons in violation of UN Security Council resolutions to the Houthis in Yemen, that's an action," he said. "When the Iranians send Shiite militias to fight in support of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, that's action. When the Iranians plant terror cells in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia and in other places, that's action. The action is more important than the words."


The minister also outlined the kingdom's view of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the crises in Syria and Yemen, saying Saudi Arabia was optimistic about working with the U.S. administration to resolve many of the crises in the region today.

"One of the biggest factors I think that will help to resolve many of these challenges is the new American administration," he said. "We expect to see America engaged in the world. And we expect to see a realistic American foreign policy, and we look forward to working with this administration very, very closely."

Defense News Digital Editor Chris Martin contributed to this report.

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