Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir stressed on Tuesday that the Kingdom will study “all options” to retaliate to Iran after the conclusion of the probe into the September 14 attack on the Aramco oil facilities.
“We believe that Iran is responsible for the attack. We are certain that the attack came from the north. We are now investigating from where it was launched,” he told a conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
“We want to avoid war. But at the same time we will not stand idly by as the Iranians attack us. We have to signal to the Iranians that ‘your behavior cannot continue’,” he added.
Saudi Arabia last week presented Iranian weapons it said were used in the attack on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil facilities. The US and Europe have said that Iran was behind the attack.
Jubeir said the United Nations was helping it identify the launch site for the attack.
He reiterated American accusations that the attack was an “act of war”, revealing that Saudi Arabia was working with its European allies to reach a strong collective decision and diplomatic stance to respond to Tehran.
Iran must decide if it wants to be a state or a revolution, he added.
It must act as a good neighbor, he demanded, adding that ever since the 1979 revolution, “we have only seen death and destruction” coming from Iran.
Moreover, Jubeir accused Iran of providing the Houthi militias in Yemen and Hezbollah party in Lebanon with ballistic missiles.
“We share the same stance with the US on Iran and Hezbollah,” he added.
The Houthis have launched hundreds of missiles at Saudi Arabia and they are hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid in Yemen, the minister charged.
“We are engaged in Yemen for the sake of the stability of the region and prevent the spread of the Houthis and other Iranian proxies,” he went on to say.
“We were clear to the Houthis in saying that the battle in Yemen cannot be settled with a military solution. The solution will be political and based on agreements and the three references,” he continued.
Jubeir also accused Iran of seeking to expand its influence under the guise of spreading the revolution in the region.
Commenting on the crisis with Qatar, he said: “Qatar is a neighboring country, but it must change its policies that it has been adopting since 1996.”
He accused Doha of continuing to finance extremist and terrorist organizations and of meddling in the affairs of other countries.
