Alireza Enayati says relations with Saudi Arabia are “progressing naturally” and that he is in direct contact with Saudi officials.
Posted on March 15, 2026
Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia denied that Tehran was responsible for the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure and said that if it were behind the attacks, it would have announced it.
Alireza Enayati did not suggest who carried out the attacks, but added that Iran is only attacking US and Israeli military targets and interests during the ongoing war, Reuters news agency quoted him as saying on Sunday.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
After the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February, Tehran retaliated against American and Israeli military assets, including in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Last week, the Ras Tanura oil refinery was forced to stop operations after drone debris caused a small fire. Attempted attacks were also reported at the Shaybah oil field in the desert near the border with the United Arab Emirates.
So far, Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry has not blamed anyone for the attacks.
Enayati said he is in direct contact with Saudi officials and explained that relations are “progressing naturally” in many areas.
The talks included Saudi Arabia’s publicly stated position that its land, sea and air would not be used to attack Iran. He did not give more details.
Iran and Saudi Arabia reestablished diplomatic relations in 2023, in a deal brokered by China, in which the two sides, who backed rival groups across the region, agreed to a new chapter in bilateral relations.
‘Trust in external powers’
Enayati reiterated to the Gulf States that the war “has been imposed on us and the region” following coordinated attacks by the United States and Israel.
When asked about the attacks on Gulf nations, Enayati responded: “We are neighbors and we cannot live without each other; we will need a serious review.”
“What the region has witnessed over the past five decades is the result of an exclusionary approach and over-reliance on external powers,” he said, calling for deeper ties between the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council along with Iraq and Iran.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also denied that his country is attacking civilian or residential areas in the Middle East and said Tehran is ready to form a committee with its neighbors to investigate responsibility for such attacks.
So far, the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, has faced the brunt of Iran’s attacks, with US bases and oil refineries heavily attacked.
While all targeted countries have strongly condemned Iran’s missile and drone attacks, regional sources say there remains growing frustration with the United States for dragging them into a war they did not sign up for but are now paying the highest price, Reuters reported.
Enayati said that to resolve the conflict, the United States and Israel must stop their attacks and international security guarantees must be given to prevent future “aggressions.”
Paul Musgrave, an associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has lost much of its influence in the region and that the United States was involved in the wrong conflict at the wrong time, without proper planning.
Meanwhile, Iran’s strategy now appears to be “not who has the biggest bomb or munitions, but who has the highest pain threshold,” Musgrave told Al Jazeera.
