U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at Department of State, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 9, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ken Cedeno | Reuters<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that while it favors a diplomatic settlement to Iran’s conflict with the United States, continued attacks \u2060on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The message was conveyed before a speech on Saturday in which Iranian President \u200bMasoud Pezeshkian apologized to neighboring Gulf states for Tehran’s \u200bactions \u2014 an apparent attempt to defuse regional anger \u200bover Iranian strikes that hit civilian targets.<\/p>\n
Two days earlier, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and set out Riyadh’s position with clarity, the sources said.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia is open to any form of mediation aimed at de-escalation and a negotiated settlement, the sources quoted the minister as saying, underlining that neither Riyadh \u2060nor other \u200cGulf states had let the U.S. use their airspace or territory to launch airstrikes on \u2060Iran.<\/p>\n
But Prince Faisal was also quoted by the sources as saying that if Iranian attacks persisted against Saudi territory or energy infrastructure, Saudi Arabia would be forced to permit U.S. forces to use their bases there for military operations. Riyadh would retaliate if attacks on the kingdom’s critical energy facilities continued, he said.<\/p>\n
The sources said the kingdom had remained in regular contact with Tehran through its ambassador since \u200cthe U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran began on Feb 28, following the collapse of talks on Iran’s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Drone and missile attacks on Gulf states<\/p>\n The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia \u200bhave all come under heavy drone and missile fire from Iran over the past week.<\/p>\n Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of the war. Tehran responded by hitting Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. military installations, and Israel has attacked Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group.<\/p>\n Araqchi said in an interview on Saturday that he remained in constant contact with his Saudi counterpart and other Saudi officials, adding that Riyadh had \u2060assured Tehran it was fully committed to not allowing its territory, waters or airspace to be used for attacks against Iran.<\/p>\n Pezeshkian said Iran’s temporary leadership council had approved suspending attacks on nearby \u200ccountries – unless an attack on Iran came from those nations.<\/p>\n “I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by \u200cIran’s actions,” he said.<\/p>\n To what extent Pezeshkian’s remarks signal a change is unclear. There were further reports of strikes directed at Gulf states on Saturday.<\/p>\n Also, in a sign of possible divisions within Iran’s leadership, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters – the unified combatant command of the Iranian armed forces – said in a statement afterwards that U.S. and Israeli bases and interests across the region would remain \u2060targets.<\/p>\n The command said Iran’s armed forces respected the sovereignty and interests of neighbouring states and had not taken action against them so far. But \u2060it said U.S. and Israeli military bases and assets on land, at sea and in the air across the region would be treated \u2060as primary targets and face “powerful and heavy” strikes by Iran’s forces.<\/p>\n