On Thursday, Iran’s foreign minister said that sanctions initiated by the Trump administration are totally “unacceptable” but that the US is committed to an international nuclear deal that has steadily revealed itself even as tensions rise.
Mohammad Zarif, in a visit to Tokyo defended Iran’s right to reply to the U.S. as they pullout from the nuclear deal sometime last year and the imposition of sanctions.
He said, “We believe that escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncalled for. We have exercised maximum restraints.” In other comments carried on the semi-official Mehr news agency, Zarif was quoted as saying “a multilateral deal cannot be treated unilaterally.”
Recent days have brought with it allegations of sabotage attacks specifically targeting oil tankers off the coast of the UAE, a drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline claimed by Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi rebels, and the dispatch of U.S. warships and bombers to the region.
Khalid bin Salmanaudi, Arabia’s Deputy Defense Minister tweeted on Thursday that Tehran had ordered “the terrorist acts” on the pipeline.
“The attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias against the two Aramco pumping stations proves that these militias are merely a tool that Iran’s regime uses to implement its expansionist agenda in the region,” he wrote.
US and the UN has accused Iran of supplying ballistic missile technology and arms to the Houthis. However, Tehran has denied the allegations.
And Saudi Arabia responded to Tuesday’s attack with airstrikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-held capital.