The 29th Arab summit got underway in Saudi Arabia on Sunday under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who warned of Iran’s looming threat against the region.
The summit, held at Dhahran’s King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, brings together the kings, presidents and leaders of 17 Arab countries.
“We underline the dangerousness of the Iranian behavior in the region,” he said in an opening address to the gatherers after the presidency of the summit was transferred to him from last year’s holder, Jordan.
He therefore called for a “strong international” stance on Tehran’s behavior.
The Arab nation, he continued, is passing through very difficult circumstances.
One of the greatest threats facing the world today is terrorism, which has allied itself with extremism and sectarianism to create internal conflicts that have eaten up several Arab countries, he went on to say.
On this note, he “strongly condemned Iran’s terrorist acts in the Arab region.”
“We reject its blatant meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries,” declared King Salman.
He highlighted the crises in the region, holding the Iran-backed Houthis militias responsible for the ongoing Yemeni crisis.
He welcomed in this regard the United Nations Security Council statement that strongly condemned the Houthis for firing missiles against Saudi cities.
In the Palestinian territories, he reiterated Riyadh’s stance that east Jerusalem must be the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
“The Palestinian cause is our primary cause and it will remain so until our fraternal Palestinian people obtain all of their legitimate rights, starting with the establishment of an independent state, whose capital is east Jerusalem,” he stressed.
King Salman therefore rejected and condemned the American administration’s decision to relocate its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, hailing the international denouncement of Washington’s decision.
“East Jerusalem is an integral part of Palestinian territories,” he stressed before the gatherers from across the Arab world.
Prior to the opening of the summit, King Salman said via Twitter: “The summit is the culmination of honest intentions and efforts to reach a united vision and deal with all challenges with a firm will and joint coordination.”
