The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia has refused to quell rumors that his country is working with Israel to tackle the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.
Abel Al-Jubeir said Thursday that Hezbollah, a political and militant Shia-Islamist group, has hijacked the system in Lebanon and is spreading a malign influence throughout the Middle East.
He said many countries want to push back against Hezbollah but would not be drawn either way on whether Saudi Arabia was now working with Israel.
"I can't comment on rumors," Al-Jubeir said.
"What I do know is that Iran is an outlaw state and Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism, that Iran harbors terrorists and was in cahoots with al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden since the 1990s," he added.
Al-Jubeir also claimed that al-Qaeda's "virtual board of directors" fled to Iran in 2002 and have been directing terror operations from the country ever since.
The foreign minister was himself the subject of a failed assassination attempt by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, but denied that his criticism of Tehran is in any way personal.
