Iran’s top military chief says Saudi Arabia is an ‘enemy’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s top military chief on Saturday dubbed Saudi Arabia as an “enemy,” at a time of escalating tensions between Tehran and Riyadh.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who was appointed chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces in June, said in a speech to Revolutionary Guards commanders in Tehran that Saudi Arabia is an “enemy of the revolution.”

He said Saudi Arabia ranked among enemies, together with the United States, Israel and Britain.

“Today the United States is the main enemy of the revolution, alongside the Zionist oppressor, Britain and regional puppets such as the Saudi dynasty,” Bagheri said, according to Sepah News, the official website of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Bagheri’s remarks come amid rising tensions between Tehran and Riyadh that escalated in the aftermath of the Hajj stampede in Mecca in September 2015 and the Saudi execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr last January.

Iran and Saudi Arabia also are on opposite ends of the wars in Syria and Yemen.

Riyadh recently endorsed the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) dissident group, whose goal is to overthrow Iran’s clerical regime.