Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held a coordination meeting in Riyadh with the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt on the sidelines of the consultative meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers. The meeting discussed the ongoing Iranian escalation in the region and emphasized the importance of continued consultation and joint coordination efforts to enhance security and stability. The Saudi foreign ministry said on Thursday that Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan joined Prince Faisal to discuss the Iran war crisis. The ministers discussed Iran’s military escalation in the region and continued consultation and coordination on achieving security and stability in the Middle East. The US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 and Iran has launched missiles and drones at its Arab neighbors, Israel and US assets in the Arabian Gulf region. Talking earlier to reporters, Prince Faisal said the Kingdom “reserves the right to take military action if deemed necessary,” warning that continued Iranian escalation would carry political and moral consequences. Tehran attacked a major energy hub in Qatar on Wednesday after an Israeli strike against Iran’s South Pars gas field. QatarEnergy said several of its LNG facilities were subjected to missile attacks in the early hours of Thursday, causing sizable fires and extensive damage. Qatar’s interior ministry said on Thursday two fires at Ras Laffan industrial area had been fully contained, and no injuries were reported. In a post on social media, US President Donald Trump blamed Israel for the South Pars attack and promised to punish Iran severely if it attacked Qatar again. “Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran.” The US “will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before” if Qatar was targeted.
