Saudi Arabia rules out war with Iran

Islam Mohamed

Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman has said that he hopes his country will not resort to military action against Iran.

His statements came as international mediation efforts between Riyadh and Tehran moved ahead.

Bin Salman added that he goes for a political settlement with the Islamic Republic.

War between Saudi Arabia and Iran, he said, would cause the international economy to collapse.

Ramifications

The Saudi Crown Prince noted in an interview with CBS’s ’60 Minutes’ that he agrees with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s assessment that Iran’s attacks on two oil facilities operated by Saudi oil giant Aramco on September 14 amounted to an act of war.

The attacks hit at the heart of international energy supplies, Prince Mohamed said.

He said the attack was foolish, having targeted 5% of the world’s oil supplies.

Prince Mohamed warned that oil prices would reach record levels, if the international community had not taken action to rein in Iran.

“The world needs to take strong action to deter Iran, or it will move ahead with escalation,” the Saudi crown prince said.

He added that a political solution would be possible in Yemen if Iran’s mullahs stopped backing the Houthi militia.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said earlier that his country would consider all options to respond to Iran’s attacks on the two Saudi oil facilities, after an inquiry into the attacks comes to an end.

“We made sure that the attacks had originated in Iran,” al-Jubeir said, calling for ending Iran’s destabilizing role in the region.

The US, Europe and Bahrain blamed Iran for the attacks on the two Saudi oil facilities. Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic denies links with the attacks and says the Houthis had carried them out.