“The kingdom stresses the dangers of Iran’s regional project, its interference in other countries, its fostering of terrorism, its fanning the flames of sectarianism … in its efforts to possess weapons of mass destruction,” the king told Shura Council members via video link.

They were his first public remarks since he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September via video link, where he also took aim at Iran.

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran are locked in a decades-long struggle for influence across the region, supporting opposing sides in conflicts from Syria to Yemen.

Tensions have risen since US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of a landmark nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 and reimposed stringent economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.