Saudi urges Iran to keep nose out of Arab world

RIYADH, April 2, 2011 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has urged Iran to mind its own business after a parliamentary panel in Tehran warned that Riyadh was "playing with fire" by deploying troops in Bahrain.

"Iran's statement deliberately ignores Iran's interference in the region's affairs and its violation of the independence and sovereignty of the region," a government official said late on Friday, quoted by state news agency SPA.

On Thursday, the Iranian parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee said: "Saudi Arabia should know it's better not to play with fire in the sensitive region of the Persian Gulf."

Riyadh's retort was to accuse Tehran of "fuelling confessional tensions (in the region) and failing to respect the norms of good neighbourliness as in the case of Kuwait where a spy cell has been uncovered."

Iran was "ignoring the fact they have no right to violate Bahrain's sovereignty, or to stick their nose in the affairs of Gulf countries," the government official said.

Saudi Arabia heads a joint contingent of Gulf troops deployed in Bahrain on March 14 in support of the kingdom's forces in Bahrain, which have faced anti-regime protests since mid-February.

Tehran condemned the deployment and has denied any link to three people convicted of spying in Kuwait and sentenced to death last Tuesday.