Saudi arrest of terror cell proof of Iran’s policies in Gulf

Despite repeated claims of Iran’s leaders of their keenness on good relations with the Arab neighbours, Tehran’s actions on the ground only prove the exact opposite; a sustainable campaign to destabilise the region and support terrorist groups and militias that seek to undermine Gulf security.

Last year’s attack on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco installation with missiles and drones was a blatant example of Iran’s aggressive policies. A United Nations probe concluded the missiles were of Iranian origin. The unprecedented attack on the kingdom “demonstrated that this regime has total disregard for the stability of the global economy or stability of oil supplies to international markets,” King Salman told the United Nations General Assembly last week. Nevertheless, the kingdom tried to extend its hand to Iran, “but to no avail,” he noted.

In another transgression on the kingdom’s security, Riyadh announced on Monday that has it arrested 10 members of a terrorist cell, trained and supported by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Three of the arrested terrorists trained in Iran on explosives and military tactics.

“Security investigations revealed the elements’ identities as well as two sites used by those elements to store weapons and explosives,” the State Security Presidency said in a statement. It said that among the items seized were improvised explosive devices (IEDs), dozens of stun guns, large quantities of gunpowder and a variety of rifles and pistols.

Iranian threat to regional security

The investigations are underway, and will certainly reveal the extent of the latest Iranian threat to regional security. The Saudi announcement came just weeks after a Bahraini court indicted a terrorist cell based and trained in Iran.

The world wrongly assumed that Iran would seize on the nuclear deal, signed in 2015 with world powers to open a new page with its neighbours, who have been suffering for decades from Iran’s attempts to export it revolution and wage proxy wars on Arab countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. In Yemen, Tehran’s support for Al Houthi rebel militias also highlighted the regime’s plans to undermine the security of Saudi Arabia.

The nuclear deal, which the United States exited two year later because of Iran’s failure to live up to its commitment, however, seems to have empowered Tehran to intensify its expansionist activities, create its terrorist networks, and use terrorism to spread “chaos, extremism, and sectarianism,” King Salman noted in his UN address.

The arrest of yet another Iran-linked terrorist cell in Saudi Arabia is wake up call for the world, which can no longer afford Iran’s unhinged subversive actions.