Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said on 19 March that the country “reserves the right” to take military action against Iran after Iranian ballistic missiles were launched at Riyadh.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a news conference that any confidence in Tehran had been undermined and that pressure from Iran “will have the opposite effect”.
Tehran accused Israel of striking its facilities in the South Pars gas field on 18 March, a major escalation of the war. Iran has vowed to attack oil and gas targets across the Persian Gulf, immediately firing missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
In the harshest comments to come from the Saudi authorities since the war began, the foreign minister accused Iran of hostile actions against its neighbours – directly and through its many regional proxy forces.
He said the current attacks were long-planned by Tehran and were not a reaction to the strike in South Pars.
“This pressure from Iran will backfire politically and morally, and we of course reserve the right to take military action if we deem it necessary,” Farhan told reporters after a meeting of the region’s top diplomats in Riyadh.
The interceptors were launched from near a hotel in Riyadh where the conference was being held around the time foreign ministers from about a dozen countries – notably Turkey, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Syria – gathered for a meeting on the Iran war.
Israel and the US have been striking Iran since 28 February. US President Donald Trump has said the aim of this war-destroying Iran’s military capabilities and preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
Iran has been striking Israel and countries in the region that co-operate with the US. At the same time, Axios wrote that the US asked Israel not to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure.