Adel al-Jubeir Quotes

We have no interest in seeing an unstable Yemen or seeing a Yemen that is devastated.

Daesh members wear shoes. Does this mean everybody who wears shoes is Daesh?

You cannot lecture another people about what you think is right or wrong based on your value system unless you’re willing to accept others imposing their value system on you.

What we want is stability and security so we can focus on our own development. But we have these problems in our region, and nobody has been able to resolve them. The whole world was saying that the countries of the regions should step up and resolve their problems, so we stepped up.

Show me one Iranian diplomat we killed! I can show you many Saudi diplomats who were killed by Iran.

It seems people don’t read or listen. Our scholars and our media have been very outspoken. We were the first country in the world to hold a national public awareness campaign against extremism and terrorism. Why would we not want to fight an ideology whose objective is to kill us?

We warned when the crisis began in 2011 that unless it was resolved quickly, the country [Syria] would be destroyed. Unfortunately, our warnings are coming true.

The Iranians know what they need to do in order to become a responsible member of the international community and in order to become a good neighbor, and it’s really up to them to change their behavior.

There is nothing to encourage. The Iranians should just stay away from us.

Iran is the only country around the negotiating table that has not been attacked by either al-Qaida or Daesh.

We have a legal system, and we have a penal code. We have the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, and people should respect this.

People are saying, “Oh my God, Saudi Arabia has changed.” It’s a contradiction. Do you want us to lead, or do you want us to play a supporting role?

We have a legal system, and this is not something that happens all the time. We have capital punishment. America has capital punishment. Iran has capital punishment. Iran hangs people and leaves their bodies hanging on cranes. Iran put to death more than a thousand people last year. I don’t see EU reporting on it.

The Middle East has gone through periods of turmoil before. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were revolutions. When monarchies were collapsing in a number of countries, we had radicals and we had Nasserism. Today it’s a little bit more complicated.

Daesh is attacking us. Their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, wants to destroy the Saudi state. These people are criminals. They’re psychopaths.

Just like we respect your legal system, you [europeans] should respect our legal system. You cannot impose your values on us, otherwise the world will become the law of the jungle. Every society decides what its laws are, and it’s the people who make decisions with regards to these laws.

I don’t think anyone can predict what the short term will look like. In the long term, it will be a Syria without Bashar Assad. The longer it takes, the worse it will get.

Iran has been a neighbor for millenia, and will continue to be a neighbor for millenia. We have no issue with seeking to develop the best terms we can with Iran.

We expressed our readiness to join the US-led, international coalition against Daesh with special forces. All of this, however, is still in the discussion phase and in the initial planning phase.

We have always said there are two ways to resolve Syria, and both will end up with the same result: a Syria without Bashar Assad.

We can’t do both. If you want us to lead, don’t criticize us. And if you want us to play a supporting role, then tell us who is going to lead.