JEDDAH: Arab leaders gather in Saudi Arabia on Thursday for emergency summits that Riyadh hopes will deliver a strong message to Iran that regional powers will defend their interests against any threat following attacks on Gulf oil assets this month.
Saudi and the United Arab Emirates have said they want to avoid war after drone strikes on oil pumping stations in the kingdom and the sabotage of oil tankers off the UAE coast.
Riyadh accused Tehran of ordering the drone strikes, which were claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group. A top US security official said Iranian mines were "almost certainly" used in the tanker operation.
Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf told a gathering of his counterparts in Jeddah ahead of the summits that the attacks must be addressed with "strength and firmness".
"While summit leaders are likely to discuss how best to avoid a war, King Salman is equally determined to defend Saudi and Arab interests amid increasing tensions between the US and Iran," Prince Turki Al Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and envoy, wrote in an opinion piece published by Al Arabiya.
He said the meetings of Gulf and Arab leaders at midnight in Mecca would discuss Iran's "interference" in Arab affairs.
Tensions have risen between the United States and Iran after Washington quit a multinational nuclear deal with Iran, re-imposed sanctions and boosted its military presence in the Gulf.
US National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Wednesday that the attack near a UAE bunkering hub was connected to the strike on pumping stations on the kingdom's East-West pipeline -- both alternative oil shipping routes to the Strait of Hormuz -- and a rocket attack on Baghdad's Green Zone.
"There is no doubt in anybody's mind in Washington who is responsible for this and I think it's important that the leadership in Iran know that we know," Bolton said of the operation against four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers.
He said the United States was trying to take a "prudent and responsible" approach but warned Tehran against any new attacks.
During the US adviser's visit to Abu Dhabi, officials activated a defence co-operation agreement signed earlier this year between the United States and the UAE.
Gulf states have a joint defence force under the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), but the alliance has been fractured by a dispute that has seen Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and non-GCC Egypt impose a political and economic boycott on Qatar since mid-2017.
Saudi King Salman invited Qatar's ruler, whose country is home to the largest US military base in the region, to the Mecca summits. Qatar said Prime Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani would attend.
Iraq and Oman, which have good ties with Tehran and Washington, have said they are working to reduce tensions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on a trip to Iraq this month that Tehran wanted balanced ties with Gulf neighbours and had proposed signing a non-aggression pact with them.
One of the UAE's main newspapers said in an editorial that the offer was "bizarre".
"No Mr Zarif. We are not buying your 'nice neighbour' routine," said the front-page editorial in Gulf News daily.
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