Referring to Iran-Saudi relations, Hassan Hanizadeh said: “Saudi Arabia tried to isolate the Axis of Resistance on behalf of the United States and the Zionist regime. For this reason, the destructive role of Saudi Arabia in Yemen, attacking that country and killing its people, interference in issues related to Iraq, the Syrian and Lebanese crises, and adopting aggressive mechanisms against Iran have led the Saudis to actually try to confront Iran’s realistic and tension-relieving policies on behalf of the United States.

The expert added: “Over the past four years, Saudi Arabia has spent $300 billion in Yemen to take the people of this country and especially the Houthis, out of the Yemeni political scene. Also, over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia has provided terrorist groups in Syria, with nearly $80 billion in financial assistance.

“Saudi Arabia’s behavior is a function of the policies of the United States, the West and the Zionist regime,” Hanizadeh said adding, “Especially given that the regime has recently found its footing in the Persian Gulf states, the role of Saudi Arabia has been very strong, and it is now trying to help establish open relationship between the (P)GCC countries and the Zionist regime.

He added: “Saudi confrontation with Iran and the Axis of Resistance has become obvious and more aggressive, especially in the era of King Salman and his crown prince Mohammad bin Salman. This policy has always been tied to White House policies and these policies of confrontation with Iran and the Axis of Resistance have become more aggressive since Trump’s coming to power.

He pointed to Saudi and US efforts to attribute to Iran the drone attacks on Aramco oil facility to Iran with the aim of putting pressure on Tehran, saying: “All the evidence shows that by relying on their indigenous capabilities, the Yemeni revolutionary forces, the army, the revolutionary committees and Ansarullah managed to pursue a policy of balance of threat against Saudi Arabia after four years of brutal Saudi war  and hit Saudi Arabia by developing new mechanisms, producing ballistic missiles and advanced drones.

The attack on the Aramco oil facility sends a very important message to the international community that the blood of the Yemeni nation must be honored and that their blood is more valuable than Saudi oil and oil facilities because over the past four years they have martyred thousands of Yemeni children and women and no international organization has shown reaction to these aggressions. Now, the time for accountability has begun by Yemen and the future is even more dangerous for the Saudi regime.

He said according to a statement issued by the Yemeni army, they will target important and strategic facilities deep inside Saudi Arabia in their ensuing attacks. Touching on the policy of ‘security for oil’ deal that is being pursued by Saudi Arabia, Hanizadeh said attack on Saudi oil facilities showed the weakness of security-military structure of Saudi Arabia and the United States. All the evidence, however, indicates that the reaction was shown by the Yemeni army.

Reminding that the United States has all the evidence at its disposal showing the attack was not carried out by Iran, the expert said they do not want to admit that the Yemeni people and the small group of Ansarullah can carry out such a move. They are projecting in order to attribute any case or event to Iran, so that as an Arab expert has put it, Iran’s dossier becomes thicker and a global coalition would be formed against Tehran. Therefore, the Americans will seize the opportunity and increase their blackmailing of the Saudi regime and get more from them.

He added: “The US security plans have failed in Iraq, the Zionist regime, Occupied Palestine and Saudi Arabia. Using wide propaganda, they tried to pretend their anti-missile systems would do miracle. However, what happened in the Occupied Palestine, the attack from outside the Iraqi borders on the regime’s ammunition depots and the recent attack on Saudi oil facilities completely put under question the US claims of having power to provide security. Therefore, they are scamming and leveling accusations against Iran on the eve of the UN General Assembly meeting in which the Iranian president is also attending.