Iran was responsible for the attacks on two Saudi oil facilities earlier this month, leaders from the United Kingdom, France and Germany said in a joint statement, drawing a sharp response from a senior Iranian military official on Tuesday.
The three countries, all signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, issued the statement on Monday as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hinted that the UK may withdraw from the 2015 agreement.
The drone attacks, carried out on September 14 against Saudi oil facilities has further raised tensions in the region, following the US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran deal last year.
Johnson met with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders, to coordinate their strategy on Iran.
"It is clear for us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack. There is no other plausible explanation," the three leaders said in the joint statement released by France.
The three leaders pledged to try to ease tensions in the Middle East and urged Iran to "refrain from choosing provocation and escalation."
But at the same time, Johnson had also suggested earlier that the UK would consider taking part in a US-led military effort to bolster Saudi Arabia's defences in the Gulf — a move Tehran considers as a provocation.
In response to the allegations, Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, said on Tuesday that enemies who try to attack Iran will face "captivity and defeat".
"We have repeatedly told the enemy that if there is any violation toward this country, they will face the same action that took place with the American drone and the English tanker," according to the Tasnim news agency.
Earlier, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also denied the allegations saying a military attack by his country would have completely knocked out Saudi's Arabia's main oil-producing facility.
"If Iran was behind this attack, nothing would be left of this refinery," Zarif told reporters in New York.
Zarif said Yemen's Houthi rebels, who claimed responsibility, "have every reason to retaliate" for the Saudi-led coalition's aerial attacks on their country.
He also stressed that on the eve of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to the United Nations in New York City "it would be stupid for Iran to engage in such activity."
French President Emmanuel Macron also met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York [John Irish/Reuters]
Hillary Mann Leverett, a former White House and US State Department Official, told Al Jazeera that the European leaders are "jumping the gun" and have failed to present proof of their allegations.
"There is no proof. The French, the British and the Germans are not even waiting for a UN or international investigation, which the Saudis have themselves called for."
Leverett said the conclusion of the three European powers also "underestimates, as they have for years, what the Yemenis, are capable of doing. And I think we all underestimated what the Yemenis are capable of doing much to our peril."
Brian Hook, Trump's top adviser on Iran, however insisted that Iran was behind the Saudi Arabia attacks, citing "intelligence and open source analysis".
"The evidence including the complexity, scope and impact of the attack indicates that this is the case," Hook said without presenting any proof.
Nuclear deal withdrawal?
In a sign of more diplomatic trouble head, the UK's Johnson said on Monday that the US president could negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran "better" than what Tehran and world powers agreed to in 2015, which he described as "bad".
Jamal Abdi✔@jabdi
Europe, unable to deliver promised JCPOA sanctions relief in the face of US intimidation, sternly implies that it may not be willing to not deliver on its promises for much longer.
Tyler Cullis@TylerCullis
This statement constitutes diplomatic malpractice.
If it was intended to reduce risk of conflict in the region, its effect will be the opposite.
It will embolden those who are responsible for the current situation & underscore why Iran can't trust E3.https://twitter.com/ReutersIran/status/1176230637382115328?s=20 …
"Let's do a better deal," Johnson said in an interview with NBC while in New York for the UN General Assembly.
"I think there's one guy who can do a better deal... and that is the president of the United States. I hope there will be a Trump deal," added the prime minister.
He later clarified that he still supports the agreement, adding that Iran needs to return to compliance.
France's Macron also appears to be considering abandoning the accord.
"I'm not married to the JCPOA," he told reporters traveling with him to New York, referring to the agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
"It has to be said that the two main players are in the process of deciding to leave it. One has left, the other is telling us that they will leave," Macron added.
Later, Iran's Zarif appeared to respond to the statements, writing that Britain, France and Germany's "paralysis in fulfilling their obligations w/o US permission has been clear since May 2018," when Washington withdrew from the accord.
"No new deal before compliance w/ current one," Zarif wrote on social media.
'Game-changer'
France has been trying to find a diplomatic solution to US-Iranian tensions, which soared after the Saudi attacks, and has carefully avoided assigning blame.
Previously, Macron had said he remained "cautious" about attributing responsibility for the attacks. But he later shifted positions and blamed Iran as soon as he arrived in New York.
Macron said at a UN news conference not long before the joint statement was issued that he planned to meet separately with both Trump and Rouhani over the next day and would work to foster "the conditions for discussion" and not escalation.
Macron called the September 14 strikes "a game-changer, clearly" but reiterated France's willingness to mediate.
But Zarif already ruled out any Iran-US meeting, saying Iran had received no request from the US, "and we have made clear that a request alone will not do the job."
He said Trump "closed the door to negotiations" with the latest US sanctions, which labeled the country's central bank a "global terrorist" institution — a designation the Iranian minister said the US president and his successors may not be able to change.
"I know that President Trump did not want to do that. I know he must have been misinformed," Zarif said in a meeting with UN correspondents.
"We are committed to continuing our diplomatic efforts to create conditions and facilitate dialogue with all relevant partners interested in de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Al Jazeera's diplomatic editor, James Bays, reporting from the UN, said developments on the Iran issue "are moving fast" and Trump is expected to devote a significant part of his UN speech on Tuesday on the ongoing crisis.
SOURCE: ALJAZEERA
