The Embassy wanted to highlight a recent Op-Ed publication by His Royal Highness Ambassador Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States of America, in which he details why Iran’s detrimental expansionist policies across the Middle East and the rest of the world must not be appeased but rather confronted.
The following are excerpts from the Essay titled, "Why Iran's Malign Behavior Must Be Confronted- Not Appeased," that also reinforce His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s views on the need to immediately address Iran’s destabilizing tactics:
"As Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has emphasized repeatedly, standing up to the forces of aggression may entail more cost in the short term. But it is the only real strategy for preventing already grave threats to snowball into wider, and potentially far deadlier, conflicts. “We will not repeat an agreement that was reached in 1938 and that led later to the Second World War,” the Crown Prince said in Paris this year at a conference with President Macron."
His Royal Highness the Ambassador goes on to conclude:
“Following the path of appeasement will lead countries in the region to lose faith in international law. They will see that proxy militias can be tools of foreign policy, unchecked by the world community. They will change and adapt to this new reality — and not for the better, I fear. We cannot pass the buck and hope things get better. Committing to a firm policy of containing Iran, and all its mischievous activity, will solve more problems than just saying: “Something must be done.”
The world must join us to confront Iran with seriousness and intent. Iran needs to know it will pay a price if it continues to violate international law and interfere in the affairs of its neighbors. Iran must be punished economically and diplomatically, with all options kept on the table to ensure the strength and integrity of diplomacy. And the Middle East’s legitimate state institutions — in Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere — need to be supported as they fight Iran’s proxies of chaos.”
Only such a course of action will allow the seeds of modernization, growth, and innovation to flourish across the Middle East. Saudi Arabia will do its part. We need as many partners as possible. ”
The full publication can be found here: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1343571 .
