Saudi Arabia’s Al-Jubeir: Iran should stop targeting Kingdom with missiles and militias

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir gives a joint press conference with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Jan. 24, 2020 in Budapest, Hungary. (AFP)
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Updated 24 January 2020
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Saudi Arabia’s Al-Jubeir: Iran should stop targeting Kingdom with missiles and militias

  • Al-Jubeir: The Iranian regime has hijacked the country
  • He added that Saudi Arabia is committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia does not target Iran with missiles and through militias and therefore the Islamic Republic should stop doing the same, the Kingdom's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said at a press conference in Hungary on Friday.

Al-Jubeir added that the Iranian people are “historically moderate,” but that the regime had “hijacked the country.”

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Al-Jubeir said sanctions had been imposed on Iran “because of its behavior in the region,” not because of Saudi Arabia's wishes.

As US President Donald Trump prepares to host Israeli leaders in Washington to reveal details of his long-delayed Middle East peace plan, Al-Jubeir said the Kingdom “has no relations with Israel and is committed to a two-state solution, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.”

He added that Saudi Arabia does not want war in Yemen and is seeking a political solution.    

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said “Iran wants to export the revolution” and has “an expansionist ideology.”

In a televised interview with VICE Media that will air on Al Arabiya on Friday evening, Prince Khalid added: “Iran wants other states in the region not to be partners, but to be under the Iranian expansionist project. And this is a big difference; we have Vision 2030 that is moving us forward, and they have vision 1979 that is trying to move the region and Saudi Arabia backward.”

He also said Iran and its militias threaten security in the region.


Israeli settlers burn tents, vehicles in West Bank village

Updated 52 min 3 sec ago
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Israeli settlers burn tents, vehicles in West Bank village

  • Videos show masked men rampaging into the Palestinian village of Susiya near Hebron and burning vehicles and property
  • Similar attacks have become common as settlers ‌seek to control large swathes of ​land in the West Bank

SUSIYA, West Bank: Israeli settlers set ‌fire to vehicles and tents in the Palestinian village of Susiya on Tuesday night, residents said, in the latest incident of settler violence against Palestinians ​in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Videos verified by Reuters showed a masked group of men, who residents said were Israeli settlers, approaching the village near the city of Hebron, and later burning vehicles and Palestinian property.
“They attack us almost every day, repeatedly, because we live near the main road...Last night they burned everywhere,” Halima Abu Eid, a Susiya resident told Reuters on Wednesday.
The ‌Israeli military ‌said they had dispatched soldiers to deal ​with ‌reports ⁠of “deliberate ​burnings of ⁠Palestinian property” and had opened an investigation into the incident.

A Palestinian man inspects his burnt vehicle after it was set on fire by Israeli settlers in Susya village near Hebron. (AFP)

Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased sharply since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with over 800 Palestinians displaced due to settler attacks in 2026 according to United Nations data.
Attacks where masked settlers arrive ⁠at night to destroy Palestinian property or attack ‌residents have become common, as Israeli settlers ‌seek to control large swathes of ​land in the West Bank.
An ‌Israeli official previously blamed settler violence on a “fringe minority,” although ‌Reuters reporting has shown well-organized plans to take Palestinian land in public settler social media channels.
The United Nations has documented at least 86 instances of settler violence from February 3 to 16, leading to the displacement ‌of 146 Palestinians and the injury of 64.
Israeli indictments of settler violence are rare. At ⁠the end of ⁠2025, Israeli monitoring group Yesh Din said of the hundreds of cases of settler violence it had documented since October 7, 2023, only 2 percent resulted in indictments. Israel’s far-right governing coalition has enabled the rapid spread of settlements, with some ministers openly stating they want to “bury” a Palestinian state.
Most world powers deem Israel’s settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.
Israel disputes the view that its ​settlements are unlawful and it ​cites biblical and historical ties to the land.