Iran welcomes Pak-Saudi defence pact as start of ‘regional security system’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has welcomed the landmark mutual defence accord struck between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as the beginning of a “comprehensive regional security system”, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia entered into a landmark mutual defence agreement, under which any aggression against one state will be considered an attack on both. The pact was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman at the Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh last week.
The Iranian president praised the defence deal while addressing the General Debate of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday.
“Iran welcomes the defensive pact between the two brotherly Muslim countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, as a beginning for a comprehensive regional security system with the cooperation of the Muslim states of West Asia in the political security and defence domains,” he said.
President Pezeshkian also said Iran has no intention to build nuclear weapons, just days before international sanctions could be reimposed on his country over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“I hereby declare once more before this assembly that Iran has never sought and will never seek to build a nuclear bomb. We do not seek nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian said.
Pezeshkian criticised the move by European powers to delay sanctions for six months so Tehran could restore IAEA access to nuclear sites as “illegal”, saying it was made at “the behest of the United States of America”.
The US, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear programme as a veil for efforts to try to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
“In doing so, they (the E3) set aside good faith. They circumvented legal obligations. They sought to portray Iran’s lawful remedial measures … as a gross violation,” Pezeshkian said.