Sirens sound out across Riyadh as tensions escalate in Iran conflict

AIR raid sirens were tested across the Saudi Arabian capital yesterday as the country prepared for a possible escalation with Iran after a weekend attack on its oilfields raised the stakes in the conflict.

Text messages were sent to residents ahead of the 1pm tests in Riyadh and neighbouring provinces, which civil defence said was to ensure the sirens were “effective and ready”.

The United States and Saudi Arabia are considering their response to Saturday’s assault on key oil facilities which left the kingdom reeling.

Asked whether military retaliation was being considered, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi’s ambassador to Germany, said “everything is on the table”.

President Donald Trump has struck a more cautious note, saying there were many options short of war with Iran. He said there was “plenty of time to do some dastardly things … We’ll see what happens”.

The Trump administration has reportedly been briefed on a number of possible options for retaliatory action against Iran, which is believed to be behind the assault, including a cyberattack or physical strike on Iranian oil facilities or Revolutionary Guard Corp assets.

“The US stands with Saudi Arabia and supports its right to defend itself,” Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, tweeted from Jeddah following a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Mr Pompeo said the attack on the world’s largest oil processing plant that knocked out half of Saudi’s production, was “of a scale we’ve just not seen before”.

“The Iranian regime’s threatening behaviour will not be tolerated,” he added.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, said any US or Saudi military strike against Iran would result in “all-out war”.

“‘Act of war’ or AGITATION for WAR?” he said in a tweet. “For their own sake, they should pray that they won’t get what they seek.”

In an interview later with CNN, he said: “I am making a very serious statement that we don’t want war; we don’t want to engage in a military confrontation …

“But we won’t blink to defend our territory.”

Riyadh, which said it is still investigating the assault, on Wednesday displayed the remnants of 25 Iranian drones and missiles it said were used in the strike as undeniable evidence of Iranian aggression.

The US military said yesterday it was consulting with Saudi Arabia on ways to mitigate threats from the north in a further show of solidarity with Riyadh.