Asia-Pacific

Saudi king says no interest in assisting anyone against Iran

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-01-27 17:22

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz has said his country had no interest in either interfering in Iran's internal affairs or assisting anyone against Tehran, Kuwait-based daily Arab Times reported on Saturday.

In an interview with the Times recently, the Saudi king said he had sent a message to the Iranian government explaining about Saudi's stance through a call with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.

The Saudi leader denied a saying that his country allies with those who are against Iran and said "we never interfere in the internal affairs of others" as "we are busy developing and building our nation."

He said his country does not want anyone to be an enemy of Iran as well as the other five Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, namely Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, which have mutual security treaties.

"I explained our experience to Ali Larijani" that any risk will affect all countries in the region, the king told the newspaper, adding "we can succeed only if we establish comfortable ties with the rest of the world."

The Saudi leader, meanwhile, warned that any county, should it act unwisely, would have to take responsibility for its actions.

Admitting the situation of Arab world is not comfortable, King Abdullah lamented a lack of unity among Arab countries while voicing his hope that Arab nations would have the power and ideology to stand as one nation.

"Unfortunately, our decisions are currently split, like what is happening in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq," he said, stressing that "we don't want others to misuse our issues to support their international interests."