Saudi King Salman opens Arab summit urging international effort to thwart Iran’s ‘criminal acts’

It follows US allegations that Iran was almost certainly behind this month’s sabotage of four ships off the UAE coast

Iraq, which has offered to mediate between Washington and Tehran, rejected the joint statement and has warned of a risk of war in the Persian Gulf

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Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Mecca. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:11pm, 31 May 2019Updated: 2:26pm, 31 May 2019

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Friday ratcheted up the rhetoric against arch-nemesis Iran, calling on Arab states to confront its “criminal” actions after attacks on oil installations sparked fears of a regional conflagration.

The king’s remarks came at the start of two back-to-back emergency summits in the holy city of Mecca, which drew near-unanimous support for the Sunni kingdom from Gulf and Arab states – with the exception of Iraq.

The summits came a day after hawkish US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Iran was almost certainly behind this month’s sabotage of four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, off the UAE coast. Tehran rejected the charge.

Saudi Arabia, a staunch US ally, also faces stepped-up drone attacks from Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, one of which resulted in the temporary shutdown of a major oil pipeline.

The Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Reuters

“The absence of a firm and dissuasive response to Iran’s acts of sabotage in the region has encouraged it to continue and strengthen them in the way we see today,” the Saudi king said.