Heir apparent to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said that he agrees with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities a state-on-state act of war by Tehran.
The US quickly sought to blame Iran for the attacks, which crippled two Saudi Aramco facilities, and vowed retaliation.
“This was Iran true and true, and the United States will respond in a way that reflects that act of war by this Iranian revolutionary regime,” Pompeo said last Sunday, falling short of providing any details of what the US response could be.
Asked by CBS’s Norah O’Donnell if he agrees with Pompeo’s assessment, the Crown Prince responded: “Of course, yes.”
The de facto Saudi Arabian ruler said that while he agrees with the US take on the September 14 drone strikes, claimed by Houthi rebels, Riyadh would not rush into a war with Iran, as it would likely trigger a global economic collapse.
“The region represents about 30 percent of global energy supplies, about 20 percent of global trade passages, about four percent of the world GDP. Imagine these all three things stop? This means a total collapse of the global economy.
“The political and peaceful solution is much better than the military one,” bin Salman, commonly known as MbS, told CBS program ’60 Minutes,’ which aired on Sunday.
While saying that he “hopes” it would not come to a shooting war between Riyadh and Tehran, MbS called on the international community to step up its pressure on Iran, warning that otherwise “we would see further escalation that would threaten the world’s interests.”
Iran has dismissed all allegations of its involvement in the strikes, which briefly cut the Saudi oil giant’s daily output in half, sending crude prices through the roof.
Despite pointing the finger at Iran almost immediately after the attacks took place, Washington has yet to produce evidence of the Islamic Republic’s role or pinpoint the launch site of the attack. Somewhat belatedly, the US lead in the blame game was followed by its major European allies, France, Germany and the UK, saying that it was “clear” to them that Iran was responsible.