TEHRAN, May 8, YJC - Following Saudi deputy crown prince's comments about moving the battle to Iran, Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan says if the Saudis do anything stupid, the Iranian army will hit back and destroy all of the kingdom -- apart from Mecca and Medina.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Dehqan gave the warning in an interview
broadcast on Arabic-language Al-Manar TV on Sunday in response to
remarks made by Saudi deputy crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said
any battle between Riyadh and Tehran would take place on Iranian soil.
"We will work to have the battle in Iran rather than in Saudi Arabia,"
prince Mohammed had said.
"We
warn them against doing anything ignorant, but if they do something
ignorant, we will leave nowhere untouched apart from Mecca and Medina,”
said Dehqan.
He referred to the Saudi bombing
campaign on Yemen -- in which over 12,000 people have died -- and said
the Saudis think they can do anything because they have an air force.
On
Tuesday, Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi Arabia’s defense
minister, ruled out ties with Iran after Tehran announced the
possibility of de-escalation of tensions if Riyadh halts its war against
Yemen.
He stressed that talks with Iran were impossible as Tehran’s goal was to "control the Muslim world.”
The
remarks were made after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif said the Islamic Republic was ready to normalize ties with Riyadh
if the Kingdom halted its bombardment of Yemen and stopped supporting
extremist groups.
Meanwhile on
Saturday, the Iranian Armed Forces spokesman dismissed the recent Saudi
deputy crown prince's remarks, noting that Riyadh is implementing the
hostile policies of the US and the Israeli regime in the region.
On
Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said that
Prince Mohammed’s remarks prove that the kingdom follows
"confrontational and destructive policies” in the region and towards
Tehran.
Saudi
Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an
attempt to bring back to power the resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur
Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh, and to undermine the Houthi
Ansarullah movement. The Riyadh regime has, however, failed to reach its
goals despite suffering great expense.