Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir has warned Iran there would be more sanctions if it continued its "aggressive policies", but said Riyadh wanted to avoid war.
"Today, Iran is under severe economic sanctions," Jubeir told Le Monde newspaper in an interview published on Monday. "These sanctions will be strengthened. If Iran continues its aggressive policies, it will have to pay the price."
Jubeir was speaking in Paris after meeting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as European powers seek to defuse tensions in the region after Iran downed a US military surveillance drone and was blamed for attacks on six oil tankers.
"We said we wanted to avoid a war at all costs, like the Americans. It is the Iranians who are making the choice of escalation," Jubeir said.
"You can not attack ships in the Gulf, you can not attack pipelines, you can not provide ballistic missiles to terrorist groups like the Houthis (in Yemen) to use against Saudi Arabia," he said.
