Iran has issued an official warning to the United States, threatening it with an "all-out war" if it chooses to mobilize its military. The country's foreign ministry all extended the threat to any country that plans to attack it following the recent drone bombing of several oil production facilities in Saudi Arabia owned by Saudi Aramco.
The country's warnings came right after the United States had publicly blamed Iran for the bombings. Yemen's Houthi rebels had initially claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the US believes that Iran was the one that had orchestrated the offensive.
The warnings also came just a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo posted on Twitter that the US would no longer tolerate Iran regime's "threatening behavior." Pompeo also stated in a different post that the attack on Saudi's oil facilities was clearly an "act of war."
The US officials had stated that the US was pushing for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, but the country cannot simply ignore Iran's latest actions. Pompeo elaborated that even if the Houthi rebel's claims were true, Iran likely still played a part in the attack that put the global energy supply at risk.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mentioned that they do not want to engage in a military confrontation, but they will not hesitate to defend their territory if anyone attacks. When a reporter had asked Zarif of the country's response to a Saudi or US strike, the official bluntly stated that it would be an "all-out war" that would have a "lot of casualties."
Pompeo arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, which was followed by a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah to discuss the attacks on the country's oil processing facilities and oil fields. The attacks, which were alleged to have been made using Iranian cruise missiles, essentially cut Saudi's oil production in half.
US President Donald Trump also posted a tweet following the attacks and revealed that he had instructed US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to increase the country's sanctions on Iran. Based on the data and information he had been given, Trump stated in a separate tweet that it was "looking like" Iran was indeed responsible for the attacks.
With the help of third-party experts and its own investigators, Saudi announced on Wednesday that it had enough reason to believe that the attacks may have come from Iran. At a press conference on Wednesday, Saudi authorities revealed the remains of the missiles and drones that were used during the attack.
Officials also released surveillance footage that showed the drones coming from the north, which is opposite the direction of where Yemen is from Saudi Arabia. Officials stated that a total of seven cruise missiles and at least 18 drones were used in the assault.
