Iran claims it only targets US military, not embassy in Riyadh.

Iran vs Saudi Arabia – (Web Desk) – Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, strongly denied on Thursday that his country attacked the US embassy in Riyadh this week. Saudi officials had claimed that Iran targeted the embassy with drones.

Saudi Arabia has often accused Iran of firing missiles and drones at its land and has warned it can defend itself, including by striking back. Iran had also denied hitting the Ras Tanura refinery, one of the Middle East’s largest, which Saudi Arabia said Tehran targeted twice with drones.

Enayati added that Iran had nothing to do with the US embassy fire. “We confirmed that Iran has no role in the attack on the US embassy in Riyadh,” he told AFP. “If Tehran’s operations command attacks somewhere, it takes responsibility for it.”

The Middle East has grown more tense as Iran responds to US and Israeli strikes that killed its supreme leader. Iran has launched attacks on Israel and other parts of the region. At least 13 people have died in the Gulf so far, including seven civilians.

Enayati said Iran was not starting a regional war. “This is not a regional war and it is not our war. It was imposed on the region,” he told AFP.

Before the outbreak of war, Riyadh had thrown its weight behind diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions between Tehran and Washington and vowed that its airspace and territory would not be allowed to be used for attacks against Iran.

Enayati said Iran remained appreciative of that pledge by the kingdom.

“We appreciate what we have repeatedly heard from Saudi Arabia — that it does not allow its airspace, waters, or territory to be used against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he told AFP.

“We welcome and affirm this position.”

After years of enmity, Shia-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia resumed relations in March 2023 under a surprise China-brokered deal.

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Riyadh severed ties with the Islamic republic in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad were attacked during protests after Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Iran’s ambassador denies any role in US embassy attack while Gulf tensions rise.