Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham rapped US Secretary of State John Kerry for making negative statements about Iran during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, saying that pressures of hawkish circles have caused a change in Washington’s approach towards Tehran.
“Such remarks have been repeated (many times) and the several options that they speak about and their policies in different arenas have shown to be inefficient,” Afkham told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday, responding to Kerry’s statements in Riyadh, who said US President Barack Obama has vowed not to allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon and that he has kept all options, including the military option, on the table to prevent that from happening.
“This approach might be the result of the pressures exerted by certain circles and extremists,” Afkham said.
Secretary of State John Kerry sought to repair frayed ties with Saudi Arabia over the Syrian conflict and Iran in his visit to Riyadh.
The top US diplomat landed in Riyadh late Sunday on the second stop of an 11-day trip which has become an exercise in damage control, as the regional turbulence unleashed by the Arab Spring stirs tensions with longtime US partners.
Saudi Arabia, locked in a decades-long rivalry with Iran, is concerned that proposed Syrian peace talks could leave a Tehran-backed government in Damascus and that a breakthrough in nuclear negotiations could lead to a US rapprochement with Iran.
The conservative oil-rich kingdom has grown increasingly nervous over the past two years as popular revolts have toppled onetime allies in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen and spread turmoil across the region.
In an unprecedented move last month, Saudi Arabia turned down a coveted non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in protest at the world body's failure to wage a military war against Syria.