Islamic Countries Condemn Attack on Saudi Oil Ships at Summit

(Bloomberg) -- Leaders of Islamic nations condemned last month's attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities and ships off the coast of the U.A.E that have been blamed on Iran and its Yemeni Houthi allies, saying the international community should preserve the region's stability.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation held a summit in Mecca a day after back-to-back emergency meetings of Gulf and Arab leaders, who accused Tehran of threatening global oil supplies and maritime traffic.

Saudi Arabia called the emergency summits following attacks on oil installations in the kingdom, and on tankers heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, a key choke-point for international shipping. The U.S. has blamed Iran for the attacks on the vessels and dispatched additional forces to the region.

The closing statement by the OIC stopped short of naming Iran. But at a press conference after the summit, Saudi's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said “the Islamic world is telling Iran: Enough.”

The OIC called on the international community to “fulfill its responsibility to preserve the security and peace of the region.”

Tensions have spiked in the Gulf since the U.S. tightened sanctions on Iran's oil exports in early May, prompting an Iranian threat to walk away from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal the Trump administration abandoned a year ago. Al-Jubeir said he believed President Donald Trump has been consistent in his policy toward Iran and had the support of countries in the region to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

To contact the reporter on this story: Samer Khalil Al-Atrush in Cairo at skhalilalatr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, John McCluskey

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