Iran FM says 'high time' for Saudi Arabia to eject US forces

Tehran: Iran’s top diplomat urged Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to evict US forces from its territory, reiterating that its attacks in the region only targeted its enemies.

“Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X. “Our operations are aimed at enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can provide any security… High time to eject U.S. forces.”

Iran, on Tuesday fired a new salvo of missiles at Gulf nations it accuses of serving as a launchpad for US strikes.

In Dubai, four people were wounded by falling debris from intercepted projectiles while an Iranian attack sparked a fire at a Kuwaiti oil tanker in the city’s port, said authorities in the financial hub whose reputation for stability has been shaken by the conflict.

In Saudi Arabia, authorities said they intercepted eight ballistic missiles.

Trump warned Monday that if Iran did not strike a war-ending deal — which included reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane — US forces would destroy “all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).”

But the Wall Street Journal reported he also told aides he was willing to end the war even if the strait remains largely closed –likely strengthening Tehran’s control on the waterway.

Refusing to back down, an Iranian parliamentary committee voted to impose tolls on vessels in the strait, the passageway through which one-fifth of global oil passes, and completely ban ships from the United States and Israel.

The strait had been open before the war, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has recently spoken of building a “coalition” to oppose the Iranian tolling plan.

“It sets an incredible precedent,” Rubio told Al-Jazeera of the tolls.

“So this means that nations can now take over international waterways and claim them as their own,” Rubio said of the waterway the US president recently called the “Strait of Trump”.