Tehran will halt attacks on neighbouring countries unless attacks against Iran originate from their territory, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said in remarks broadcast on Saturday on Iranian state television.
"We do not intend to violate or assault our neighbouring countries – they are our brothers," Pezeshkian said, adding that Iran's temporary leadership council had instructed the armed forces "not to attack neighbouring countries or fire missiles at them unless attacks on us are carried out from those countries." Pezeshkian also apologised to Mideast Gulf states that had been struck during the past week of hostilities.
But his remarks came against a backdrop of continued missile threats across the region. Saudi Arabia said earlier on Saturday that its air defences intercepted 20 drones launched in five waves toward Saudi state-controlled Aramco's 1mn b/d Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter desert. The attempted strike on Shaybah marked the first attack on a major upstream oil asset since the conflict began.
The UAE's air defence systems were also on Saturday intercepting incoming projectiles, according to the country's ministry of defence, while earlier in the day, Dubai International Airport temporarily suspended operations after debris from an intercepted projectile fell in the vicinity of the facility, the Dubai Media Office said. UAE airline Emirates said flights have since resumed and operations returned to normal.
Iran has launched repeated missile and drone attacks against targets across the Middle East in retaliation for the US and Israeli air strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities which began on 28 February. Those strikes have included airports and ports, in addition to attempts to hit energy infrastructure in several Mideast states. Aramco's 550,000 b/d Ras Tanura refinery, in the kingdom's eastern province on its Mideast Gulf coast, sustained limited damage earlier this week from falling debris after drone interceptions. Bahrain's 405,000 b/d Sitra refinery was also struck, causing a fire at an unspecified unit, while storage facilities at the ports of Fujairah in the UAE and Duqm in Oman have been hit.
The attacks have effectively halted tanker traffic through the strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which around 14mn b/d of crude and 3mn b/d of refined products transited before the conflict. The war in the Middle East sent North Sea Dated crude up by almost $23.50/bl in the week to 6 March, the biggest weekly gain since Argus' records began in early 1990.
