Saudis acting naively: Hashemi Rafsanjani

TEHRAN, Oct. 19 (MNA) – In his meeting with German FM, head of Iran’s Expediency Council criticized Saudi behavior on the international stage. “To prevent more tension in the region, Saudi rulers, who mostly act naively, must be convinced that it serves no country’s interests to stir friction in the region,” said Head of Iran’s Expediency Council Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani in his meeting with the visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday in Tehran. The senior Iranian official asserted that “the surge in the exchange of visits between the officials of Iran and Germany, after years of stagnation in relations, demonstrate the determination of both countries to re-establish friendly ties.” “If acted cautiously, and with the removal of obstacles and interferences, the two countries would overcome the problems ahead of Tehran-Berlin relations,” reassured the Grand Ayatollah. Touching upon the extension of ties, Hashemi voiced hope for developing technical cooperation between the two nations as he hailed the Germans’ technical power. Further, he lamented that terrorism has been that much spread in the Middle East that it cannot be addressed properly with global unanimity. Boasting Iran’s potentials in fighting terrorism, the former Iranian president and Parliament speaker reminded the early years of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran which was gripped by terrorism since very early days, saying that it had taken Islamic Republic two years to stabilize its internal affairs getting rid of terrorist militias.