TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iran said on Monday that the United Kingdom should stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia instead of accusing the Islamic Republic, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain believed Iran was responsible for an attack on Saudi oil facilities.
"The government of England, instead of carrying out fruitless efforts against the Islamic Republic of Iran, should take action to stop selling deadly weapons to Saudi Arabia, which is the request of many people in the world, and release themselves from accusations of committing war crimes against the people of Yemen," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.
Britain had previously held back from attributing blame for the drone and missile attack.
Johnson told reporters flying with him late Sunday to New York for the UN General Assembly that now "the UK is attributing responsibility with a very high degree of probability to Iran” for the attack by drones and cruise missiles.
"We will be working with our American friends and our European friends to construct a response that tries to de-escalate tensions in the Persian Gulf region,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he would meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at this week’s high-level UN gathering.
Johnson stressed the need for a diplomatic response to the Persian Gulf tensions, but said Britain would consider any request for military help. The Trump administration announced Friday that it would send additional U.S. troops and missile defense equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as part of a "defensive” deployment. Officials said the number of troops was likely to be in the hundreds.
"We will be following that very closely,” Johnson said. "And clearly if we are asked, either by the Saudis or by the Americans, to have a role, then we will consider in what way we could be useful. We will consider in what way we could be useful, if asked, depending on what the exact plan is.”
Meanwhile Monday, Iran’s Government spokesman Ali Rabiei said legal proceedings against a British-flagged oil tanker held by Tehran since July have concluded, though he doesn’t know when the vessel will leave.
However, the Stena Impero has not turned on its satellite-tracking beacon in 58 days nor has there been any sign that it has left its position off the Iranian coast near the port city of Bandar Abbas. Stena Bulk, the ship’s Swedish owners, also has not said anything about the ship’s departure.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) seized the Stena Impero in July after authorities in Gibraltar seized an Iranian crude oil tanker. That ship has since left Gibraltar, leading to hopes the Stena Impero would be released.