Military response to Iran is possible: Saudi Arabia

New York, Sep 26 (IANS) Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, has said that all options, including a military response, were open after the September 14 drone attacks on the Kingdom's two oil facilities, which it has blamed on Iran.

"Everybody's trying to avoid war and everybody's trying to avoid escalation. So we will look at all the options that are available to us. We will make a decision at the right time," al-Jubeir, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), told the BBC on Wednesday.

A US assessment claiming Iran was behind the strikes was backed up by the UK, France and Germany this week. But Tehran has denied any involvement.

"Appeasement has not worked with Iran in the past, appeasement will not work with Iran in the future," the Saudi Minister added.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the UNGA that the US wanted "a peaceful resolution with the Islamic Republic of Iran".

"In the end, it'll be up to the Iranians to make that decision, or whether they'll choose violence and hate," he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron had attempted to broker a historic meeting between his Iranian and US counterparts.

But Iran's Hassan Rouhani told delegates at the UN on Wednesday that he refused to meet his American counterpart Donald Trump while the country's punishing economic sanctions were in place, the BBC reported.

He also dismissed the idea of a photo with President Trump, who has staged several photo opportunities with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un - including one apparently spontaneous handshake in the Korean peninsula's Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).

"Memento photos are the final stage of negotiations, not the first one," Rouhani added.