Iran’s foreign minister warned Thursday that any attack on his country over a drone-and-missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry would result in “all-out war,” further pushing up tensions across the Persian Gulf.
The comments by Mohammad Javad Zarif represent the starkest warning offered yet by Iran in a long summer of mysterious attacks and incidents following the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, over a year after US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed the attack, but the US alleges Iran carried out the assault.
Zarif’s comments also appeared to be in response to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who a day earlier while traveling to Saudi Arabia referred to the attack as an “act of war.”
Asked by CNN what would be the consequence of a US or Saudi strike, Zarif said: “All-out war.”
“We won’t blink to defend our territory,” he said. “I’m making a very serious statement that we don’t want war. We don’t want to engage in a military confrontation.
“We believe that we do not need war in this region,” he added. “We believe that we need dialogue, we need cooperation, we need confidence building in this region.”
.@npwcnn: What would be the consequence of an American or Saudi military strike on Iran now?Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif: An all-out war.— CNN International (@cnni) September 19, 2019
Pompeo wrote a tweet early Thursday after his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jiddah over Saturday’s drone and cruise missile attack on a crucial oil processing facility and oil field.
Pompeo called the attacks “unprecedented.”
“The US stands with #SaudiArabia and supports its right to defend itself,” Pompeo said. “The Iranian regime’s threatening behavior will not be tolerated.”
Pompeo did not elaborate. Trump has been noncommittal on whether he would order US military retaliation. He separately said Wednesday he is moving to increase financial sanctions on Tehran over the attack, without elaborating. Iran already is subject to a crushing American sanctions program targeting its crucial oil industry.
Also on Thursday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that a claim by Yemeni rebels that they launched the attacks “lacks credibility.”
On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia displayed what it said were fragments of 25 drones and cruise missiles, which it said proved the attack was carried out by Tehran.
Pompeo left Jiddah on Thursday for the United Arab Emirates to meet with Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The UAE is a close ally of Saudi Arabia and joined the kingdom in its war in Yemen against the Houthis.
The UAE announced Thursday it had joined a US-led coalition to protect waterways across the Mideast after the attack on Saudi oil installations.
Saudi Arabia joined the coalition on Wednesday. Australia, Bahrain and the United Kingdom also are taking part.
Pompeo tweeted his appreciation for the UAE and Saudi Arabia joining the coalition.
“Recent events underscore the importance of protecting global commerce and freedom of navigation,” he wrote.
The Pentagon will present a broad range of military options to US President Donald Trump on Friday as he considers how to respond to what administration officials say was an unprecedented Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry.
In a White House meeting, the president will be presented with a list of potential airstrike targets inside Iran, among other possible responses, and he also will be warned that military action against the Islamic Republic could escalate into war, according to US officials familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The national security meeting will likely be the first opportunity for a decision on how the US should respond to the attack on a key Middle East ally. Any decision may depend on what kind of evidence the US and Saudi investigators are able to provide proving that the cruise missile and drone strike was launched by Iran, as a number of officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have asserted.
Iran has denied involvement and warned the US that any attack will spark an “all-out war” with immediate retaliation from Tehran.
Both Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence have condemned the attack on Saudi oil facilities as “an act of war.” Pence said Trump will “review the facts, and he’ll make a decision about next steps. But the American people can be confident that the United States of America is going to defend our interest in the region, and we’re going to stand with our allies.”
The US response could involve military, political and economic actions, and the military options could range from no action at all to airstrikes or less visible moves such as cyberattacks. One likely move would be for the US to provide additional military support to help Saudi Arabia defend itself from attacks from the north, since most of its defenses have focused on threats from Houthis in Yemen to the south.
Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized to a small number of journalists traveling with him Monday that the question of whether the US responds is a “political judgment” and not for the military.
US Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said in an interview Thursday that if Trump “chooses an option that involves a significant military strike on Iran that, given the current climate between the US and Iran, there is a possibility that it could escalate into a medium to large-scale war, I believe the president should come to Congress.”
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