Iran seeks de-escalation - but will give crushing response to any attack

Iran wants to reduce tensions in the Middle East after attacks on oil sites in Saudi Arabia, but any aggression will meet a crushing response, a senior security official was quoted as saying on Wednesday. 'Iran's strategic policy is to reduce tensions... through dialog, but the country is fully prepared to surprise aggressors through a crushing and comprehensive answer to possible evil actions,' the Etemad daily newspaper quoted Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani as saying. Saudi Arabia said it would show evidence on Wednesday linking regional rival Tehran to a Saturday attack on its oil industry that Washington believes originated from Iran. Tehran denies any involvement. 'In an official note to the United States via Swiss embassy, Iran has reiterated that it was not behind attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, and has warned that any move by America against Iran will get immediate reaction,' ISNA reported. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Wednesday that the attack on the kingdom's oil infrastructure posed a 'real test of the global will' to confront subversive acts that threaten international stability, state media reported. His remarks were made in a telephone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who called on the global community to 'take a firm stand and resolute action' towards such assaults, Saudi state news agency SPA said in an Arabic-language statement. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group, which is battling a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, claimed responsibility for the attacks on Saturday on sites run by state-owned Saudi Aramco. Yemen had been torn apart by Civil War since 2015. The war led to a cholera outbreak from 2016 to 2019, and caused over three million people to become refugees and the death by starvation of over 84,000 children. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE HE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Iran seeks de-escalation - but will give crushing response to any attack

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