Smoke and flames rise at the site of an airstrike on an oil depot in Tehran (Image: Getty)
The simmering conflict between Iran and the US and Israel could escalate into an all-out war in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia threatened to get directly involved in the fighting. The country’s foreign minister heavily criticized Iran after overnight attacks by the Islamic Republic on neighboring countries in the region.
Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan said after a meeting between the foreign ministers of Gulf Arab states that his country will do everything possible to stop missiles and drones coming from Iran, including not ruling out armed intervention.
He said: “Attacks on my country and my neighboring countries that are not involved in this conflict are all that interests me.
“We are going to use political, economic, diplomatic and all other means to stop these attacks.”
Prince Faisal also highlighted the continued Iranian attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh last night (Thursday) despite hosting a meeting of Arab leaders. The prince said: “I can’t see it as a coincidence, it’s a clear indication of how Iran feels about diplomacy. It tries to put pressure on its neighbors, and it won’t work.”
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Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper meets with her Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud (Image: PA)
Iran attacked a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea and set fire to Qatar’s liquefied natural gas facilities and two Kuwaiti oil refineries, sending international oil and gas prices soaring on Thursday.
The attacks followed an Israeli attack on South Pars, the Iranian part of the world’s largest gas field, the previous day.
us President Donald Trump Said Israel would not attack South Pars again, but warned on social media that if Iran continued attacking Qatar’s energy infrastructure, the US would retaliate and “massively blow up” the entire region.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose to $118 a barrel, up more than 60% since Israel and the United States began the war with an attack on Iran on February 28.
A ship was set on fire off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and another ship was damaged near Qatar.
Explosion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Image: @ariel_oseran/X)
During a visit to Saudi Arabia last week, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper accused Russia and Iran of attempting to “take over the global economy” as Tehran continued to block a key oil shipping route.
Iran’s new supreme leader has vowed to continue attacking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for ongoing US-Israeli attacks on his country.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Saudi Arabia, the foreign secretary linked the threat from Iran to Russia, Tehran’s key ally.
“We have seen these relations between Russia and Iran for a long time,” he said.
“We’re looking at it in terms of technology, we’re looking at it in terms of approach, we’re looking at it in terms of this type of strategy, and we’re looking at it in the way these two states try to support each other and try to benefit together from attempting to take over the global economy.”
