New Delhi:
Any country that attacks Iran will become the “main battlefield”, the Revolutionary Guards warned Saturday. This came after the US ordered reinforcements to the Gulf following attacks on Saudi oil installations. Washington approved the deployment of troops to Saudi Arabia at “the kingdom’s request”, Defence Secretary Mark Esper said, noting the forces would be “defensive in nature” and focused on air and missile defence.
But Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Major General Hossein Salami said Iran was “ready for any type of scenario”.
“Whoever wants their land to become the main battlefield, go ahead,” he told a news conference in Tehran.
“We will never allow any war to encroach upon Iran’s territory.
“We hope that they don’t make a strategic mistake”, he said, listing past US military “adventures” against Iran.
In Riyadh, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, warned of “appropriate measures” once the source of the strikes on its oil facilities was confirmed.
“We have asked the United Nations to do an investigation and there are also other countries involved in the probe,” he told a press conference.
“We are sure the attack was not launched from Yemen, but from the north.
“When it (the probe) is completed, we will take the appropriate procedures to deal with this aggression,” said Jubeir, without specifying.
US President Donald Trump after announcing ‘toughest’ ever sanctions on Iran Friday had said he did not plan a military strike on Tehran. “I could do it right here in front of you. And that would be it. And then you would have a nice, big story to report. But I think the strong-person approach and the thing that does show strength would be showing a little bit of restraint,” he said.
“Much easier to do it the other way. It’s much easier. And Iran knows if they misbehave, they’re on borrowed time,” he said.
The attack had knocked out over half of Saudi Arabia's production as it cut 5.7 million barrels per day or over 5 per cent of the world's supply. Abqaiq and Khurais are main processing centres for Saudi Arabia's Arab Extra Light and Arab Light crude oil.
Trump last year pulled out of a nuclear accord with Iran negotiated under former president Barack Obama, sending tensions soaring as he tried to stop all countries from buying Iran’s oil.
