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Agence France-Presse

Saudi Arabia has called for urgent meetings of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to discuss escalating tensions in the Gulf, the Saudi official news agency said on Saturday.
The Saudi Press Agency said King Salman had invited Gulf leaders and Arab states to two emergency summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss recent “aggressions and their consequences” in the region.
Tensions have soared in the Gulf with the US deploying an aircraft carrier and bombers to the region over alleged threats from Iran.
Four ships including two Saudi oil tankers were damaged in mysterious sabotage attacks Sunday off Fujairah, an emirate located at the crucial entrance to the Gulf.
Saudi shuts major oil pipeline after drone attacks by Yemen rebels
That incident was followed by drone strikes Tuesday by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a major Saudi oil pipeline, which provided an alternative export route if the Strait of Hormuz closed.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to prevent shipping in Hormuz in case of a military confrontation with the United States, which has imposed sanctions on Tehran in recent months.
Despite international scepticism, the US government has been pointing to increasing threats from Iran, a long-time enemy and also a rival of US allies Israel and Saudi Arabia.


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Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia calls urgent GCC and Arab League meetings as tensions in region rise

Saudi Arabia's King Salman. Photo: Pool Photo via AP

Saudi Arabia shuts major oil pipeline after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launch drone attacks

epa07569534 (FILE) – An image showing oil producing facilities in the desert at Khurais oilfield, about 160km from Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 23 June 2008 (reissued 14 May 2019). Reports on 14 May 2019 state Saudi Aramco said some of its oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia's eastern province has been attacked, including one of its petroleum pumping stations that was targeted by apparent armed drone attack. EPA-EFE/ALI HAIDER *** Local Caption *** 90020213

FILE - In this June 19, 2018 file photo, photographers take pictures of what U.A.E. officials described as an Iranian Qatef drone captured on the battlefield in Yemen during a news conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Iran-backed Houthi rebels increasingly deploy drones in Yemen’s brutal civil war. Neighboring Saudi Arabia, which has been battling the rebels since 2015, said drones attacked an oil pipeline, targeting two pumping stations west of its capital, Riyadh, on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File)

Saudi Aramco said some of its oil infrastructure in had been attacked, including one of its petroleum pumping stations that was targeted by an armed drone. File photo: EPA

Saudi oil tankers hit by ‘sabotage attacks’ as tensions in the Gulf soar

Fishermen cross the sea waters off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Photo: AP Photo

epa07566313 A handout photo made available by the US NAVY showing the US Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) transiting the Suez Canal, 09 May 2019, issued 13 May 2019. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (ABECSG) is deployed to the US Central Command area of responsibility in order to defend American forces and interests in the region. Media reports on 13 May 2019 state that the United Arab Emirated (UAE) Foreign Office report that four commercial vessels have been targeted by sabotage operations near UAE territorial waters. EPA-EFE/US NAVY / DVIDS / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2016 file photo, an oil tanker approaches to the new Jetty during the launch of the new $650 million oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates said Sunday, May 12, 2019 that four commercial ships near Fujairah "were subjected to sabotage operations" after false reports circulated in Lebanese and Iranian media outlets saying there had been explosions at the Fujairah port. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

epa07566312 A handout photo made available by the US Navy showing an F/A-18F Super Hornet from the 'Jolly Rogers' of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103 launching off the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) to conduct a close air support exercise together with the US Air Force 603rd Air Control Squadron and the Lithuanian Air Force on 06 May 2019. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (ABECSG) is deployed to the US Central Command area of responsibility in order to defend American forces and interests in the region. Media reports on 13 May 2019 state that the United Arab Emirated (UAE) Foreign Office report that four commercial vessels have been targeted by sabotage operations near UAE territorial waters. EPA-EFE/US NAVY / DVIDS / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Saudi Arabia calls urgent GCC and Arab League meetings as tensions in region rise

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Appeal for talks comes as US steps up its military presence in the Gulf

Appeal for talks comes as US steps up its military presence in the Gulf