Saudi king says attacks by Iran-backed groups threaten global oil

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Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said on Saturday that attacks on Saudi oil assets last month by Iran-backed groups are a threat to global oil supplies and regional security.

"The drone attacks on Saudi oil pumping stations carried out by groups supported by Iran not only threaten the security of the kingdom and the Gulf, but also threaten maritime safety and global oil supplies," Salman said at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in the Saudi city of Mecca.

This is the third meeting of Arab leaders the king has held in Mecca this week.

On Friday Salman convened emergency summits of Gulf and then Arab leaders to discuss drone strikes on oil installations in Saudi and attacks on four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, off the UAE coast in May.

Salman told the Arab meeting that decisive action was needed to stop Iranian "escalations" in the region.

He also said the OIC meeting, held in the early hours of Saturday, would seek to confront "aggressive threats and subversive activities" and work for the future of Arab and Islamic states.

Front row from L to R: Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Saudi King Salman and Jordan's King Abdullah II pose with other leaders during the opening session of an OIC meeting in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, June 1, 2019. /VCG Photo

Riyadh has accused Tehran of ordering the drone strikes, which were claimed by Yemen's Houthi group. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said on Thursday that evidence of Iran's being behind the tanker attacks would be presented to the UN Security Council as early as next week.

Tehran has denied involvement in either attack.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Friday slammed what it called "baseless allegations" against Tehran by Saudi Arabia at the recent summits held in Mecca.

It was reacting to Salman's remarks on Thursday that Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program, Tehran's "interference in neighboring countries' internal affairs" and its "actions for international maritime trade and global oil supplies" are threats to regional and global security.

The Saudi king made the remarks at an emergency summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Mecca.

"The Saudis have misused their position as the host of the meeting to mobilize the Arab states against Iran and to create division among the Muslim countries," the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement on Friday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is confident that such statements do not reflect the real views of all members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), added Mousavi.

At the OIC meeting on Saturday, the Saudi king also talked about the Palestinian cause, saying it represented a core issue for the OIC and that the kingdom "refused any measures that touch on the historical and legal position of East Jerusalem."

A statement issued on the same day also reiterated the 57-member OIC's condemnation of the US decision to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the disputed city as Israel's capital.

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency