The United Arab Emirates (UAE)  will show restraint after attacks on oil tankers off its coast and is committed to de-escalation during a "difficult situation" caused by Iranian behavior in the region, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said he would not speculate about who was behind Sunday's sabotage acts on four vessels, including two Saudi tankers, near Fujairah emirate while an investigation was under way and due to be completed within days.

"We need to emphasize caution and good judgment. It is easy to throw accusations but it is a difficult situation, there are serious issues and among them is Iranian behavior," he said, mentioning concern about Iran's missiles and regional policy.

France has a naval base in Abu Dhabi.

A UAE official said Saudi Arabia and Norway were also involved. A Norwegian-registered oil products tanker was among the vessels hit, along with a UAE fuel bunker barge.

Iran has distanced itself from the attack off Fujairah, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs lying just outside the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. officials believe Iran encouraged Yemen's Houthi group or Iraq-based Shi'ite militias to carry out the attack, two U.S. government sources said on Wednesday.

Gargash said the attack took place in UAE territorial waters but declined to comment on whether the OPEC producer and regional trading hub was beefing up security after the incident.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in comments after talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, said his country regarded Gulf security as part of its own security.

"The president expressed Egypt's full solidarity with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in confronting all attempts to undermine the security and stability of the two sisterly countries," Sisi spokesperson Bassam Rady said in a statement.

The attacks took place against a backdrop of U.S.-Iranian tension following Washington’s decision this month to try to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and beef up its military presence in the Gulf in response to what it said were Iranian threats.

(Cover: Fujarah Terminals at the Port of Fujairah, May 13, 2019. /Reuters Photo)