Tehran links terrorist cells to Riyadh, cites clues from arrestees

"The terrorist groups arrested recently have given to Iranian security authorities valuable information about the role of Saudi Arabia and their supports,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told the Lebanese Al-Ahed news website on Tuesday. 

The senior Iranian parliamentarian provided no further details. 

Two weeks ago, Iranian forces clashed with members of a terrorist cell in Kermanshah, western Iran, killing four and arresting six. 
Also, in June Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi revealed Iranian security squads had thwarted a major jihadist plot to conduct bomb attacks in the capital Tehran and other parts of the country. 

"The Saudis have mobilized all their regional and international capacities against the Islamic Republic (of Iran) and working towards this end, back terrorist groups to target the Iranian nation,” Boroujerdi further said. 
Being neighbor to Iraq to its west, Iran has dismantled terrorist groups planning attacks within its territory, particularly over the past months.

On August 26, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani also lambasted Saudi Arabia for hatching plots against Iran.  

"Saudi Arabia’s embassies across the world are propagandizing against us. They are making attempts to breed insecurity across the Iranian borders and have allied with anti-Revolutionary and terrorists.”

Relationship between the two regional powerhouses has been strained for the past years over a number of issues, particularly over Syria where the two back opposing sides in the now five-year conflict. 

Their long-troubled relationship deteriorated when Saudi Arabia executed a top Saudi Shiite cleric in January, apparently incensed by Iran’s deal with the West over its nuclear program.

In retaliation, after an Iranian mob attacked Saudi’s diplomatic posts in Tehran and Mashhad, Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran.
Ever since then there has been no direct or indirect diplomatic contacts, albeit international mediation. 

Saudi Arabia has, without giving tangible evidence, accused Iran of fueling sectarian conflicts in the region. 

This is while Iran has been helping the governments of Iraq and Syria to battle the extremist Islamic State group and other self-styled terrorist bands, which hold swathes of land across the Syrian and Iraqi territories.