Saudi Arabia has demanded at the Munich security conference that Iran be punished, saying that the country was propping up the Syrian government, developing ballistic missiles and funding separatists in Yemen.

Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, on Sunday described Iran as the main sponsor of global “terrorism” and a destabilising force in the Middle East.

“Iran remains the single main sponsor of terrorism in the world,” he told delegates at the conference.

“It’s determined to upend the order in the Middle East … [and] until and unless Iran changes its behaviour, it would be very difficult to deal with a country like this.”

The international community needed to set clear “red lines” to halt Iran’s actions, Jubeir said, calling for banking, travel and trade restrictions aimed at changing Iran’s behaviour.

For his part, Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli defence minister, said Iran’s ultimate objective was to undermine Saudi Arabia and called for a dialogue between Israel and Arab countries to defeat “radical” elements in the region.

“The real division is not Jews, Muslims … but moderate people versus radical people,” he told the Munich conference delegates on Sunday.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, also criticised what he called Iran’s “sectarian policy” aimed at undermining Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

“Turkey is very much against any kind of division, religious or sectarian,” he said.

Source: / aljazeera /