Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz on Saturday warned that terrorist attacks in the Gulf region could imperil global oil supplies as he chaired a meeting of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the holy city of Makkah.
Tensions have been high in the Gulf after sabotage attacks damaged four vessels off the UAE and twin drone attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militias against Saudi oil pumping stations last month.
"We confirm that terrorist actions not only target the kingdom and the Gulf region, but also target the safety of navigation and world oil supplies," King Salman told the gatherers.
The sabotage operation represents a "grave danger" to the security of maritime traffic and regional security, he added, calling on Gulf leaders to confront Iran’s “criminal acts.”
King Salman blamed Iranian-backed terrorist militias of being behind a subsequent drone attack on the Saudi oil pipeline.
"We emphasize that these subversive terrorist acts are aimed not only at the kingdom and the Gulf region, but also on the security of navigation and energy supplies to the world," he added.
In a tweet just before the start of the summit, the King vowed to confront "aggressive threats and subversive activities".
"Undermining the security of the Kingdom effectively undermines the security of the Arab and Islamic world, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation calls for a position on the attacks on the Kingdom" said OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmed al-Othaimeen.
In the previous two back-to-back summits on Friday, Gulf and Arab allies rallied around Saudi Arabia and warned against Tehran’s threats.
The summits came after Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton said Wednesday that Iranian naval mines were "almost certainly" responsible for the damage to the four ships off the United Arab Emirates on May 12.
The findings of a five-nation inquiry into what happened have yet to be released.
Tehran dismissed Bolton's accusation as "laughable".
Regional tensions have grown since US President Donald Trump's administration reimposed sanctions against Iran after Washington unilaterally pulled out of a multilateral 2015 nuclear accord signed with Tehran.
But Trump appeared to soften his hawkish tone towards Tehran, saying during a visit to Japan on Monday that his government does not seek "regime change".
