Saudi Arabia has ordered Iran’s military attaché, his assistant, and three additional embassy staff members to leave the country within 24 hours after declaring them persona non grata, the Saudi foreign ministry announced, according to Reuters.

The decision was based on what Saudi officials described as ongoing Iranian attacks against the kingdom’s territory.

Since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Saudi Arabia has faced hundreds of missiles and drone attacks attributed to Iran, most of which were intercepted before causing damage.

Among the incidents were several attempts targeting the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh. In one case, two drones struck the compound, sparking a small fire and causing limited structural damage.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry warned that continued aggression by Iran could lead to further escalation and would carry “significant consequences” for both current and future relations between the two countries.

Earlier in the week, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud strongly criticized Iran’s actions against neighboring nations and made clear that the kingdom could respond with military force if necessary.

Addressing reporters after a gathering of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers, Prince Faisal said Iran “doesn’t believe in talking to its neighbors”, adding that “it tries to pressure its neighbors” and emphasizing that such pressure would not succeed.

“The kingdom is not going to succumb to pressure, and, on the contrary, this pressure will backfire … politically, will backfire, I believe, morally, and certainly, as we have stated clearly, we reserve the right to take military actions if necessary,” he stressed.

Prince Faisal also dismissed Iran’s assertion that its strikes on civilian targets in neighboring countries are connected to the presence of U.S. military bases, calling the claim “unconvincing”.

“Iran’s attacks on neighboring countries were premeditated, and what we are witnessing now confirms this,” he said, adding, “I would hope that they understand the message of the meeting today, recalculate quickly and stop attacking their neighbors.”

Saudi Arabia’s action follows a similar move by Qatar, which recently expelled Iran’s military and security attachés in Doha, along with staff assigned to those offices.

Qatar’s foreign ministry said it had formally notified the Iranian embassy of the decision on Wednesday, delivering an official memorandum and instructing the individuals to leave the country within 24 hours.

{Matzav.com}