JEDDAH, 18 September — The Council of Ministers yesterday endorsed the security agreement it had signed with Iran last April to fight drug trafficking and terrorism.
The historic pact will allow the two Islamic countries to jointly fight crimes, including the smuggling of drugs, weapons and goods, as well as forgery.
The agreement, which was earlier ratified by the Kingdom’s Shoura Council, involves cooperation in exchanging information about criminals and expertise to contain terrorism and prevent crime.
Saudi Arabia and Iran inked the accord during a landmark visit to Tehran by Interior Minister Prince Naif. The deal also touched on money-laundering, border surveillance and Gulf territorial waters.
The accord, which was signed in Tehran on April 18 by Prince Naif and his Iranian counterpart Abdolvahed Mussavi-Lari, was a turning point in Saudi-Iran relations.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have signed a string of accords to expand cooperation in air transport, scientific and higher education areas and sports and youth affairs.
During his visit to Tehran, Prince Naif said both countries were serious in cementing relations and coordinating efforts on various Islamic issues.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, also approved the rules and regulations set by the Communications Ministry to construct roads by private people and companies.
The Saudi government has already spent more than SR132 billion on its state-of-the-art road network with a total length of 152,000 kilometers. It has spent SR15 billion on road maintenance.
It endorsed the agreement on inaccessibility and rights related to the International Court on Marine Law as well as the final documents of a conference of the International Telecommunications Federation held in Minneapolis in 1998. However, it expressed reservations on some paragraphs of the documents.
The Cabinet appointed Sultan ibn Abdullah Al-Sudairy as assistant secretary-general of the National Security Council, Ahmad Al-Abdul Qader as director of the chairman’s office of the General Supervision Bureau, and Abdul Rahman Al-Othaimeen as director for administrative and financial affairs at King Adul Aziz City for Science and Technology.
