Iran Rejects US Terror Claim, Blames Saudi
Local Editor
Iran rejected an allegation by US War Secretary James Mattis that it was "the primary exporter of terrorism" and said on Saturday that the main source was US ally Saudi Arabia.
"Some countries led by America are determined to ignore the main source of Takfiri-Wahhabi terrorism and extremism," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted by Iran's state news agency IRNA as saying.
He was referring to extremist hardline groups and Saudi Arabia's official Wahhabi school of Islam.
Saudi Arabia denies backing terrorism and has cracked down on extremists at home, jailing thousands, stopping hundreds from travelling to fight abroad and cutting militant finances.
Muslim power Iran and Saudi Arabia, a close US ally, are longstanding religious and political arch rivals and often accused each other of backing terrorism. Relations are fraught as they back each other's foes in regional wars such as in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
"Giving a wrong address when referring to the roots and the financial and intellectual resources of terrorism is a main reason for a lack of success by international anti-terror efforts," Ghasemi added.
Ghasemi was reacting to remarks by Mattis on Friday when he was asked about comments he made in 2012 that the three main threats the United States faced were "Iran, Iran, Iran".
"At the time when I spoke about Iran I was a commander of US Central Command and that [Iran] was the primary exporter of terrorism, frankly, it was the primary state sponsor of terrorism and it continues that kind of behavior today," Mattis told reporters.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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