Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations,Ambassador Abdullah Al-Muallimi, delivered a speech on Monday at the SecurityCouncil session on the Middle East reiterating Saudi Arabia's clear position onigniting any strife or war in the region, stressing that "we do not seek warand we do not want it or ignite it, but at the same time we will not hesitateto protect our lands nor to defend our citizens and the capabilities of ourcountry by all legitimate means".
Al-Muallimi also stressed Saudi Arabia's belief in the principle ofdialogue and the peaceful resolution of disputes, "but any call for dialogueshould be consistent with an effective cessation of threats and hostilities".
Al-Muallimi said that the countries calling for dialogue shouldreject policies based on exporting the revolution and creating sectarian groupsin the countries in preparation for intervening in their affairs.
Aramco attacks
At the beginning of his speech, Al-Muallimi explained that SaudiArabia witnessed on September 14 attacks on pumping stations belonging to theSaudi "Aramco" using Iranian weapons causing a decrease of oilproduction by nearly 50%, confirming that this act of aggression is a flagrantviolation of international laws and customs, and an attack on Internationalpeace and security that requires a historic position from the internationalcommunity.
Al-Muallimi pointed out that these attacks are a major threat tothe supply of oil to world markets, and therefore a threat to the internationaleconomy, not only to Saudi Arabia, highlighting that Saudi Arabia was able toremedy the consequences of these attacks and restore production to normal inrecord time.
The Palestinian case
In addition, Al-Muallimi pointed out that the world, from the lastcentury to the present day, has not experienced a protracted crisis such as thatof Palestine crisis, suffering such as that of the Palestinian people, oroppressive occupation policies such as those of Israel, and that despiteIsrael's accession to the United Nations, it paid no attention to the decisionsof this international organization and its Security Council, which wasestablished to maintain international peace and security.
Al-Muallimi explained that the Israeli occupation government isstill practicing its horrendous violations against human rights in Palestine inthe eyes of the whole world, confirming that the principle of imposing the faitaccompli on which Israel 's policies are based should be changed in order toreach a solution to the biggest crisis in the world that has afflicted the fateof an entire people.
Al-Muallimi also said that Palestine and its people suffered themost horrible aspects of the occupation in our modern age, but the Palestinianpeople did not give up seeking a just solution to its case, pointing out thataddressing this crisis should be done by addressing the main reason, which isthe Israeli occupation and its hostilities.
Al-Muallimi expressed Saudi Arabia's emphasis on the Palestinianissue as a starting point for the stability of the region, and that anysolution to the crisis should be based on a two-state solution in accordancewith international references and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, whichguarantees the establishment of a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4,1967 with Jerusalem as its capital, the return of refugees, and the end ofIsrael's occupation of the occupied Syrian Arab Golan and the occupied Lebaneseterritories.
Turkish military operations in northern Syria
Al-Muallimi expressed his country's welcome to the agreement toestablish the constitutional committee in Syria and start its work, confirmingthat this step heralds moving forward to a political solution to end thesuffering of the Syrian people and ensure the safe and voluntary return ofrefugees in accordance with international standards.
Al-Muallimi pointed to Saudi Arabia's condemnation of Turkishmilitary operations in northern Syria, as it is important not to take anymeasures that may aggravate the Syrian crisis and the suffering of the Syrianpeople, undermine international efforts in combating the Islamic Stateterrorist organization in those areas, and threaten the territorial integrity ofSyria.
Al-Muallimi reiterated Saudi Arabia's demand to confront the armedmilitias and expel them from Syria, which adopt foreign agendas that seek todestroy Syria and make it a scene of destabilizing the region's security andsafety, calling on the international community to unite against any unilateralmeasures that may hinder the political solution in Syria in accordance withCouncil Resolution 2254.
The Yemeni Issue
On the Yemeni issue, Al-Muallimi said, "Saudi Arabia provides fullsupport to the Yemeni government and the Yemeni people in light of the crisisin Yemen and in various fields in order to reach a comprehensive politicalsolution and restore stability to Yemen. This has been recently demonstrated bySaudi Arabia's provision of $500mn through the United Nations to support theYemen Humanitarian Response Plan for 2019, which has reached more than $14bnsince the beginning of the crisis".
Al-Muallimi referred that Saudi Arabia has hosted a dialoguebetween the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council, bringingthe views on resolving the Yemeni crisis closer and confronting theIranian-backed Houthi coup.
The Riyadh agreement, which is expected to be announced soon, hasresulted in political competencies-led new development phase for the governmentof Yemen, which includes twenty-four ministers whose task is to unify ranks andharness the state institutions to serve the Yemeni people and work to meettheir living needs.
