Iran has created a grave situation and jeopardized global oil supplies with its aggressive behavior, Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said on Thursday, adding that the Kingdom was consulting with allies on next steps. The United States and Saudi Arabia are among countries that have blamed Iran for attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit route for global oil supplies. Tehran has denied involvement. "I think the situation is very grave because of the aggressive behavior of Iran," Al-Jubeir told reporters in London. "When you interfere with international shipping it has an impact on the supply of energy, it has an impact on the price of oil, which has an impact on the world economy. It essentially affects almost every person on the globe." He also said that Iran would be the only beneficiary of any end to arms exports from Britain to Saudi Arabia, adding that the deployment of weapons in Yemen was legitimate. A UK court earlier found that Britain broke the law by allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia that might have been used in Yemen's war. The ruling does not halt Britain's arms exports but means the granting of new licenses will be paused. "The decision by the court in the UK has to do with procedures for licensing, not any wrongdoing that took place," Al-Jubeir told reporters in London. "The coalition is an ally of the West and the coalition is fighting a legitimate war at the behest of a legitimate government to stop Iran and its proxies from taking over a strategically important country — so the only beneficiary of a cut-off of weapons to the coalition is going to be Iran." Al-Jubeir, in his London meet, said that the international community is determined to push back against "aggressive" behavior of Iran, adding that Saudi Arabia does not want war with Iran. The Saudi minister said that the tempo of Iranian attacks has increased in recent weeks, while adding, "It is ridiculous to think anyone is dragging a superpower into a war against Iran." "We need to calm the region down but we cannot with Iran creating so much mischief." Al-Jubeir said, adding, if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, it would generate a "very, very strong reaction". While stressing that Iran was behind recent tanker attacks, Al-Jubeir said that Saudi and its allies are consulting and looking at various options for ensuring the security of waterways in the region. Al-Jubeir also said that Saudi Arabia is working on minimizing Iran's influence in Iraq and strengthening relations with Baghdad. — Agencies
