Iran accused Israel of striking its facilities in the huge South Pars gas field on Wednesday in a major escalation in the US-Israeli war that sent oil prices shooting higher, and retaliated by vowing attacks on oil and gas targets throughout the Gulf, firing missiles at Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
In the harshest comments to come out of the Gulf kingdom in nearly three weeks of war, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of premeditated hostile actions against its neighbours, both directly and via an array of regional proxies which he urged Tehran to reign in.
"This pressure from Iran will backfire politically and morally and certainly we reserve the right to take military actions if deemed necessary," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a news conference on Thursday after a meeting of top diplomats from the region met in Riyadh.
Interceptors were seen fired from near the Riyadh hotel where the conference was held around the time foreign ministers from about a dozen countries including Turkey, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Syria gathered for the consultative meeting on the Iran war.
There are scant signs of de-escalation in the now three-week-old US-Israeli war on Iran and conflict has spread across the region, causing unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies.
Qatari, Emirati and Saudi oil and gas facilities faced attacks on Wednesday, authorities in those countries said, after Iran said it would retaliate for what it said was an Israeli strike on a key gas field.
Saudi Arabia has come under attack by hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones since the start of the conflict, the vast majority of which authorities say have been intercepted.
But Wednesday's attacks marked the first time many in the city had heard blasts or received warning messages via text.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said it had downed four ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh, and some debris fell near a refinery south of the city.
Saudi Arabia and Iran re-established diplomatic ties in 2023, part of an effort to calm tensions, after years of enmity that saw them back opposing political and military factions in the region.
Bin Farhan said Saudi Arabia still preferred the path of diplomacy, but "if Iran doesn't stop immediately I think there will be almost nothing that can re-establish trust".
