Iran has rejected foreign media reports about Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir trading barbs at a conference in Italy, saying the news is fabricated.
“This news is totally false and a blatant news fabrication with certain intentions and goals,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Saturday.
Qassemi’s remarks came one day after some reports claimed that Zarif and Jubeir had engaged in a furious war of words, accusing each other of meddling in regional affairs during the Mediterranean Dialogues (MED) summit, a conference on security in the Mediterranean region.
The top Saudi diplomat was quoted as blasting what he called Iran´s “negative influence throughout the region.”
Zarif, in turn, was cited as accusing Riyadh of having dismissed ceasefire efforts in both Syria and Lebanon, sponsoring the ISIL terrorist group, imposing a blockade on Qatar and interfering in Lebanon’s domestic affairs.
On his Saturday remarks, Qassemi stressed that the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers had addressed the Rome conference on two separate days.
Source: Press TV
