Alireza Enayati says relations with Saudi Arabia are ‘progressing naturally’ and he’s in direct contact with Saudi officers.
Printed On 15 Mar 2026
Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia denied Tehran is answerable for assaults on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, saying if it was behind the strikes, it could have introduced it.
Alireza Enayati didn’t counsel who carried out the assaults, however added Iran is barely attacking United States and Israeli navy targets and pursuits in the course of the ongoing war, Reuters information company quoted him as saying on Sunday.
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After the US and Israel launched assaults on Iran on the finish of February, Tehran retaliated towards US and Israeli navy property, together with in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Final week, the Ras Tanura oil refinery was compelled to cease operations after particles from a drone brought on a small hearth. Tried assaults had been additionally reported on the Shaybah oilfield within the desert close to the border with the UAE.
To this point, Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry has not blamed anybody for the assaults.
Enayati stated he’s in direct contact with Saudi officers, explaining that relations are “progressing naturally” in lots of areas.
Talks included Saudi Arabia’s publicly said place that its land, sea, and air wouldn’t be used to focus on Iran. He didn’t elaborate.
Iran and Saudi Arabia re-established diplomatic relations in 2023, in a deal brokered by China, that noticed the 2 sides, which backed rival teams throughout the area, agree on a brand new chapter in bilateral relations.
‘Reliance on exterior powers’
Enayati reiterated to the Gulf states that the struggle “has been imposed on us and the area” following coordinated US and Israeli assaults.
Requested concerning the assaults on Gulf nations, Enayati replied: “We’re neighbours, and we can’t do with out one another; we’ll want a severe overview.”
“What the area has witnessed over the previous 5 a long time is the results of an exclusionary method and an extreme reliance on exterior powers,” he stated, calling for deeper ties between the Gulf Cooperation Council’s six members together with Iraq and Iran.
Iran’s International Minister Abbas Araghchi additionally denied his nation is focusing on civilian or residential areas within the Center East, and stated Tehran is able to type a committee with its neighbours to research the duty for such strikes.
To this point, the UAE, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, has confronted the brunt of Iran’s assaults, with US bases and oil refineries closely focused.
Whereas all nations focused have strongly condemned Iran’s missile and drone strikes, regional sources say there stays rising frustration at the US for dragging them right into a struggle they didn’t join however at the moment are paying the heaviest worth for, Reuters reported.
Enayati stated to resolve the battle, the US and Israel must cease their assaults, and worldwide safety ensures to forestall future “aggression” have to be given.
Paul Musgrave, affiliate professor at Georgetown College in Qatar, stated the administration of US President Donald Trump has misplaced a lot of its leverage within the area, and the US engaged within the unsuitable battle on the unsuitable second, with out correct planning.
Iran’s technique, in the meantime, now appears to be “not who has an even bigger bomb or larger munitions, however who has the very best threshold for ache”, Musgrave advised Al Jazeera.
