Iran will pursue any aggressor, even it carries out a limited attack, and seek to destroy it, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday, after denying involvement in the attacks on Saudi oil sites which Riyadh and U.S officials blamed on Tehran.

"Be careful, a limited aggression will not remain limited. We will pursue any aggressor," the head of the Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, said in remarks broadcast on state TV. "We are after punishment and we will continue until the full destruction of any aggressor." 

Saudi Arabia said it is consulting with its allies to "take the necessary steps" to respond to the September 14 drone attacks on its two oil facilities and said the weapons used were Iranian, vowing to release the full findings of the investigation.

The United States this week imposed more sanctions on Iran and on Friday approved sending American troops to bolster Saudi air and missile defenses. The deployment could further aggravate Iran, which has responded to all previous U.S. troop deployments this year.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the largest-ever attack on the world's top oil exporter that affected the global oil supply.

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Iranian FM: Tehran was not involved

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif again denied Iranian involvement in the attacks on Saudi oil facilities on Sunday. He told CGTN that the attack was launched by Houthi militants as "retaliation" against Saudi Arabia for killing 100,000 people in Yemen's civil war.

"Saudis believe that with the help of the United States, they could win this war in four weeks, now it's four and a half years later, and 100,000 casualties later, and they are still stuck in this..." Zarif said.

"The Houthis are engaging in self-defense, at least you can give them the credit that instead of retaliating against the city, against the hospital, against the school as the Saudis have been doing in Yemen, they retaliated against its refinery."

"We have been very clear that we have nothing to do with this," he stressed. 

Saudi Arabia: 'Take a stand'

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told reporters on Saturday that Riyadh has already invited international investigators to join the probe into the attack, urging the world to take a stand. 

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"It was done with Iranian weapons, therefore we hold Iran accountable for this attack," Jubeir told a news conference, declining to speculate about specific actions. "The kingdom will take the appropriate measures based on the results of the investigation, to ensure its security and stability."

Riyadh has rejected the claim by the Houthi movement that it carried out the strikes.

"We are certain that the launch did not come from Yemen, it came from the north," Jubeir said. "The investigations will prove that."

The kingdom has already said the investigation so far shows that Iranian weapons were used and the attack originated from the north, and that it was working to pinpoint the exact launch location.

It sees the strikes on its Khurais and Abqaiq facilities as a test of global will to preserve international order and will likely make its case at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week.

"The kingdom calls upon the international community to assume its responsibility in condemning those that stand behind this act, and to take a firm and clear position against this reckless behavior that threatens the global economy," he said.

Asked about the deployment, Jubeir said: "The challenges that we're facing now call for enhancing security cooperation between the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its allies and partners."

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated since U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned a deal signed by world powers limiting Iran's nuclear activities last year and reinstated sanctions on the country.

(With input from Reuters)

(Cover: View of the damaged site of Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, September 20, 2019. /Reuters Photo)