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Saudi Arabia denounces Iran’s strikes on military facilities in Iraq

CAIRO, January 9./TASS/. Saudi Arabia has condemned Iran’s missile strikes on military facilities in Iraq and urged the sides to exercise restraint to avoid an escalation of tensions in the region, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"In view with the recent developments in Iraq and Iran’s strikes on two Iraqi military bases, where forces of the international anti-terrorist coalition fighting IS (Islamic State, outlawed in Russia) are deployed, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns this attack and violation of Iraqi sovereignty," Saudi Press Agency quoted the statement as saying. "We once again urge the sides to restraint in order to avoid the worsening of the situation around Iraq and across the region," it said.

Tensions around Iran flared up after the US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport, which killed General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force,. On January 8, Iran retaliated by launching missile strikes on two military facilities in Iraq used by the United States. According to the Pentagon’s spokesperson, the Al-Asad Air Base and the airport of Erbil were targeted.

US President Donald Trump declared that Washington would instantly tighten economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. At the same time, he remarked that the US was prepared for peace with Tehran. Iranian Permanent Representative to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi told TASS that Iran believed that its retaliation was proportionate and had no intention of taking any further military action.