Saudi Arabia wasn’t consulted by the American leadership in the lead-up to the drone strike that took out Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani, a high-ranking official in the Saudi Arabia government was quoted as saying by a news agency on Sunday. Agence France Presse quoted the Saudi official warning against a possible escalation of an already tense situation, following the killing of Soleimani in a drone attack by the US in Baghdad in the early hours of Friday morning.
The kingdom stresses the importance of exercising restraint to guard against acts that may lead to escalation with severe consequences, the official was quoted as saying.
Saudi Arabia, the regional adversary of Iran, has taken a rather balanced approach over the last few days on the escalation of tensions between Iran and the US, with most of the action taking place in Iraq.
Taking to Twitter, the Kingdom’s foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir called for “de-escalation” of tensions on Saturday. “The Kingdom’s statement regarding the events in Iraq stresses the Kingdom’s view of the importance of de-escalation to save the countries of the region and their people from the risks of any escalation,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that the Crown Prince had also received a phone call from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which they discussed efforts to defuse tensions in the region.
Also read: US Embassy and Air Force base in Iraq were the target of separate rocket attacks after Qasem Soleimani death
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