Skip to main content

Saudi Arabia hopes for de-escalation in Middle East, economy minister says

1 min Mena Today

Saudi Arabia is hoping for de-escalation and dialogue, Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim said on Wednesday, when asked at a conference in Berlin about the situation in the Middle East following Iran's missile attack against Israel.

Faisal al-Ibrahim © SMC

Faisal al-Ibrahim © SMC

Saudi Arabia is hoping for de-escalation and dialogue, Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim said on Wednesday, when asked at a conference in Berlin about the situation in the Middle East following Iran's missile attack against Israel.

Al-Ibrahim called the escalation unfortunate but said it was very hard to avoid discussing.

"We hope that wisdom will prevail, de-escalation will happen, dialogue will come into place and more collaboration will be seen globally, but also regionally for us to address these challenges," he said.

Fears that Iran and the U.S. would be drawn into a regional war have risen with Israel's intensifying assault on Lebanon in the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there on Monday, and its year-old conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack on Israel was in retaliation for Israeli killings of militant leaders and attacks in Lebanon on the Iran-backed armed movement Hezbollah and on the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Reporting by Riham Alkousaa

Related

Saudi Arabia

Faith over fear: 1.7 million pilgrims complete the Hajj as war looms

More than 1.7 million Muslim pilgrims gathered in the valley of Mina near Mecca on Wednesday to perform the Stoning of the Devil, the final major ritual of the Hajj, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, as fears of a renewed Middle East conflict cast a shadow over the world's largest annual gathering.

Iran

Fresh US attacks cloud hopes for quick Iran deal

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday negotiating a deal with Iran could "take a few days," quashing hopes for an imminent end to the conflict a day after U.S. forces conducted what Washington called defensive strikes in southern Iran.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Mena banner 4

To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.

  • Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.