Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that Riyadh will not allow its airspace or territory to be used for military action against Tehran, amid mounting regional tension.
In a phone call on Tuesday with Mr Pezeshkian, Prince Mohammed affirmed his country's support for any “efforts that would resolve differences through dialogue” to bolster security and stability in the region, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
During the call, Mr Pezeshkian condemned US “threats” and said they were “aimed at disrupting the security of the region, and will achieve nothing other than instability”, his office said.
Prince Mohammed's declaration comes days after a similar one issued by the UAE that it would not allow any military action against Iran using its airspace or territorial waters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also held a call with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, who is also Prime Minister, on Tuesday to discuss regional developments, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
US President Donald Trump said another “armada” was on its way towards Iran and that he hoped Tehran would make a deal with Washington. “There is another beautiful armada floating beautifully toward Iran right now,” he said.
It was not clear whether he was referring to the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying warships that arrived in the region on Monday, or to another carrier strike group.
Mr Araghchi on Wednesday said Tehran has not requested talks with the US in the past few days.
“There was no contact between me and [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff in recent days and no request for negotiations was made by us,” Mr Araghchi told reporters.
“Our stance is clear, diplomacy through military threats cannot be effective or beneficial. If they want negotiations, they must definitely abandon threats, greed, and illogical demands,” he said.
Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran and had reportedly been considering military action during protests in the country, but held back after being told protest killings were easing and plans for large-scale executions had been halted. But fears of military escalation linger as Iranian and US officials continue to trade threats.
At least 6,200 people were killed during the protests this month, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Iran, meanwhile, has said it would respond forcefully to any attack. State media this month quoted an Iranian general as saying that air forces belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were at their “highest level of defensive preparedness” and ready to “crush any aggression”.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan opposed any foreign intervention or attack on Iran, saying it would be “wrong to start the war again”. The US attacked Iran during its 12-day war with Israel in June last year, striking some of its key nuclear sites.
Mr Fidan encouraged the US to resolve its disputes with Iran “one by one” instead of through a sweeping deal.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Mr Fidan said: “My advice always to the American friends: close the files one by one with Iranians. Start with nuclear, close it, then the other, then the other.
“If you put them as a package all of them, it will be very difficult for our Iranian friends to digest. It sometimes might seem humiliating for them. It will be very difficult to explain to not only themselves, but also to the leadership.”
