Bahrain’s foreign minister said Iran was responsible for sabotaging an oil link between the island state and Saudi Arabia on Saturday, an accusation that will likely increase tensions between the Middle East’s two main powers.
Emergency crews stopped the flow of oil to the damaged pipeline and security forces determined the fire was intentional. Bahrain’s interior ministry said the explosion was a “terrorist” attack.
The “attempt to bomb the Saudi-Bahraini oil pipeline is a dangerous Iranian escalation that aims to scare citizens and hurt the global oil industry,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Khalifa said on Twitter.
Tensions have been rising in the region between Saudi Arabia and its allies, and Iran. The kingdom on Thursday advised its nationals to leave Lebanon, having earlier warned the Lebanese government of the dangers of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group that the kingdom accuses of being behind terrorist attacks.
Saudi Arabia also said a thwarted missile launched by Yemeni rebels had Iranian markings, a charge Iran has denied.
Investigation into the missile’s origins is still ongoing, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian told reporters in Dubai on Friday.
Iran has denied supplying Houthi fighters in Yemen with missiles, and accused Saudi Arabia of trying to escalate tensions.
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