Middle East

Iran Criticizes 'Baseless Accusations' Made At Arab Summit

Saudi King Salman accused Iran of "harboring global and regional terrorist entities and threatening international waterways."

Iran Criticizes 'Baseless Accusations' Made At Arab Summit
Getty Images
SMS

Iran's Foreign Ministry pushed back Friday against what it called "baseless accusations" made against it at an Arab summit being held in Saudi Arabia this week.

In his opening remarks at Thursday's meeting, Saudi Arabia's King Salman called on the international community "to use all means to stop the Iranian regime from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries."

The king also accused Iran of "harboring global and regional terrorist entities and threatening international waterways."

He'd organized the emergency summit in Mecca for Arab and Gulf state leaders to discuss relations with Iran and recent attacks on four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Iran's denied it was involved in the attacks on the vessels. On Friday, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry said the country saw Saudi King Salman's statement as a "continuation of futile attempts by America and the Zionist regime" against Iran.

Tensions have risen between the U.S. and Iran recently. The U.S. sent an aircraft carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran. And Iran started rolling back some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.