Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. | Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo defense Iran's foreign minister threatens 'all-out war' in response to potential military strike

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif threatened that an “all-out war” would result from a military strike on Iran by the United States or Saudi Arabia in response to last weekend’s attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

“I make a very serious statement about defending our country. I’m making a very serious statement that we don’t want war,” Zarif told CNN in an interview that aired Thursday.


“We don’t want to engage in a military confrontation,” he continued. “We believe that a military confrontation based on deception is awful, will have a lot of casualties. But we won’t blink to defend our territory.”

Administration officials have blamed Iran for drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq plant and its Khurais oil field. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called the assault “an act of war” against the kingdom, while President Donald Trump announced he had directed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin “to substantially increase” economic sanctions on Tehran in retaliation.

The Saudi military on Wednesday presented the remains of Iranian cruise missiles and drones it alleged were deployed in the aerial strike, and Col. Turki Maliki said the attacks were “unquestionably sponsored by Iran.”

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed credit for the attacks, while officials in Tehran have denied involvement. In his interview with CNN, Zarif continued to insist that the Islamic Republic was not behind the disruption of the international crude oil supply.

“Now they want to pin the blame on Iran in order to achieve something, and that is why I’m saying this is agitation for war — because it’s based on lies. It’s based on deception,” he said. “But you lie and deceive when it serves your interest. It doesn’t even serve their interest.”

Iran previously warned Washington against military intervention in a memo delivered to U.S. officials Monday through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. The message communicated that “the Islamic Republic's reaction will be rapid and crushing and will likely target more extensive areas than the origin of the attack,” Iran's state-run Fars News reported.