Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz said in comments published on Monday that terrorism remains a threat for the Sunni Gulf kingdom and accused Shiite Iran of targeting it.

"We will continue to be a target for terrorists, who will continue attempting to attack us, supported by other parties," Al-Eqtissadiya newspaper quoted Prince Nayef as saying.

"Evil surrounds us from all sides," he said, citing unrest in neighboring Iraq and Yemen , as well as " Iran and its targeting of the kingdom." He didn't elaborate.

Saudi Arabia witnessed a wave of deadly attacks by Al-Qaeda between 2003 and 2006, which prompted a security force crackdown on the local branch of the jihadist network founded by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.

Al-Qaeda remains very active in neighboring Yemen , where the Saudi and Yemeni franchises of al-Qaeda joined forces under the banner of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula .

A suicide bomber from the group blew himself up in August 2009 in an abortive attempt on the life of Prince Nayef's son, Prince Mohammed, who leads the campaign against Islamist militants in the kingdom.

Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia rose sharply in March when Saudi troops intervened in Bahrain to help the Gulf kingdom's Sunni ruling family suppress month-long protests led by its Shiite majority community, triggering angry protests from Tehran .

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