Saudi Arabia rules out war with Iran after Gulf attacks

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Sunday said that his country is not seeking to start a war with Iran but is ready to defend itself from any threat, following attacks in the Gulf region.

Al-Jubeir said at a news conference that the kingdom's "hands are always extended to peace and seeks to achieve it, and believes that the people of the region, including the Iranian people, have the right to live in security and stability and to move towards development".

"The Iranian regime has directly and through its proxies sought to provoke unrest and supported terrorist and extremist groups and organizations. Over the past decades, the countries of the region have suffered from the crimes of the Iranian regime and its interventions which are too numerous to count," he was quoted as saying by Efe news.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said two oil pumping stations in Riyadh were targeted by explosive-laden airborne drones and blamed the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen for the assault.

Last week, the United Arab Emirates said that four commercial vessels, including two belonging to Saudi Arabia, were sabotaged off its coast.

These incidents came amid growing tension in the region between Iran and the US.

Washington said earlier this month that it was sending the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class, and the USS Arlington amphibious warship, as well as a Patriot missile defence battery and bombers, to the Middle East.

Al-Jubeir said that the "problems in the region began since the arrival of the Iranian regime in 1979, whose Constitution is based on exporting revolution and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries".

He added that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed regional developments as well as bilateral ties in a phone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday, giving no further details.

In April, the US announced the end of exemptions it had granted to eight nations -- China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey -- to buy Iranian oil.

Tehran responded by saying that if the US blocks its oil exports it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important marine trade routes.

The US had also designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist outfit, to which Tehran responded by putting US troops deployed in the Middle East on its list of extremist groups.
IANS