(Bloomberg) -- Iran condemned an attack on a tanker at a Saudi Arabian port as a threat to maritime security, in its first official comments on the assault against its regional rival.
Iran “denounces any destructive action against maritime security and safety, and freedom of international trade,” according to a statement Wednesday posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
An explosives-laden boat hit a fuel tanker at the Red Sea port of Jeddah early on Monday in a “terrorist attack,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
It came three weeks after an oil tanker at the Saudi Shuqaiq terminal was hit by an explosion and missiles struck a Saudi Aramco fuel depot. That assault was claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.
Read more: Blast at Saudi Port Hits Oil Tanker as Red Sea Attacks Mount
On Tuesday the Houthis said the U.S. and the U.K. have failed to protect Saudi Arabia's ports, and that they would be prepared to shield them if the kingdom asks.
Read more: U.S. and U.K. Failed to Protect Saudi Ports, Houthi Leader Says
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