Earlier, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir warned that Riyadh would do whatever was necessary to “defend our country” amid Iran's “aggressive” actions, but added that a war would be the “last option”. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said any country to attack Iran would become the “main battlefield”.
Tehran cannot rule out the possibility of a military conflict breaking out in the region as a result of tensions stemming from last week's attacks on Saudi oil facilities by Yemen's Houthi militants, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said.
“I am not confident that we can avoid a war,” Zarif warned, speaking to the CBS Sunday TV programme Face the Nation.
“I'm confident that we will not start one, but I'm confident that whoever starts one will not be the one who finishes it,” the foreign minister added. “That means that there won't be a limited war,” he clarified.
Asked to comment on the US decision to send a ‘moderate number of forces' and some ‘defensive equipment' to Saudi Arabia following last Saturday's attacks by the Houthi militia on its oil facilities, Zarif said Iran was opposed to the idea.
“I don't think this type of posturing helps,” he said. “I think what helps would be to end the war in Yemen…I think it's all going the wrong direction in addressing this issue,” the foreign minister said.
