Saudi Arabia reserves right to take military action against Iran, foreign minister says |
Saudi Arabia has not ruled out military action in response to repeated missile and drone attacks from Iran, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting in Riyadh of foreign ministers from the region, Prince Faisal said that Iran “tries to pressure its neighbors” with attacks.
“The kingdom is not going to succumb to pressure, and on the contrary, this pressure will backfire… and certainly, as we have stated quite clearly, we have reserved the right to take military actions if deemed necessary,” he said.
Saudi Arabia reported more Iranian attacks on Wednesday, as the foreign minister hosted his counterparts from about a dozen Arab and Islamic countries for talks on the fallout from the Middle East war.
Several strong blasts were heard in the Saudi capital on Wednesday, while the defense ministry said it had intercepted ballistic missiles.
“The targeting of Riyadh while a number of diplomats are meeting… I think that’s the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy,” Prince Faisal said. “It doesn’t believe in talking to its neighbors.”
The Saudi foreign minister condemned the repeated “targeting of civilian sites” across the Gulf, dismissing Iran’s justification that it was targeting US interests in the region as “weak.”
“Neither Saudi Arabia nor the Gulf states would accept… blackmail, and escalation will be met with escalation,” he said.
A joint statement from the foreign ministers’ meeting in Riyadh condemned “the deliberate use of ballistic missiles and drones targeting residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, desalination plants, airports, residential facilities and diplomatic missions”.
The ministers “affirmed that such attacks cannot be justified under any circumstances and reiterated the right of states to defend themselves”, the statement added, calling on Iran to “immediately cease its attacks” and de-escalate tensions.
Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;
Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and
Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
1 ArchaeologyMystery widens: Researchers find Israel’s ‘Stonehenge’ in the Golan is not unique
2 To conserve interceptors, IAF choosing not to shoot down some Iranian cluster bomblets
3 Iran hangs three convicted of killing police during January protests, judiciary says
4 Hegseth calls IDF strike on gas field a ‘warning,’ as Trump says he told Netanyahu: ‘Don’t do that’
5 Full textNetanyahu transcript: ‘We have to be more powerful than the barbarians, or they will crash our gates, destroy our societies’
6 As Iran strikes Gulf energy sites, Trump says Israel won’t hit its gas field again — but US will if attacks go on
7 On 20th day of war, Netanyahu says Iran can no longer enrich uranium, build missiles
8 US reportedly detects drones over Washington base where Rubio, Hegseth live
2026 US-Israel war with Iran
Iran-Saudi Arabia relations