Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Donald Trump take turns in attacking Iran as terror backer

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and US President Donald Trump took turns to launch a scathing attack on Iran, which the Sunni monarch called the "spearhead of global terrorism", underscoring a common goal in undercutting the Islamic Republic’s regional influence.

The king said Saudi Arabia had not witnessed terrorism until the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Instead of accepting good-faith initiatives, Iran has "pursued expansionary ambitions, and criminal practices and the meddling of other countries’ internal affairs," he said. The kingdom, however, respects the Iranian people and won’t judge them "by the crimes of their regime," he said.

Trump later singled out Iran as a terror sponsor. Iran’s leaders speak "openly" of mass murder, Trump said in his keynote speech before dozens of Muslim leaders gathered in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

The remarks come a day after Hassan Rouhani, a moderate cleric who helped secure a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Western powers, easily defeated a conservative rival to win a second term. His victory was seen as dealing a blow to hardliners who had opposed Rouhani’s engagement with the West.

In a televised address to the nation, Rouhani said that Iranians had shown they wanted "engagement with the world" over extremism. Saudi Arabia and Iran are on the opposite sides of several major regional conflicts from Syria to Yemen, where the kingdom has been leading a coalition since March 2015 against Shiite rebels backed by Tehran.

The kingdom is committed to fighting terrorism, King Salman said. Muslims also have to shoulder their responsibilities in combating terrorism, he said.