Boris Johnson

The British government has concluded that Iran was responsible for the attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson who made the assertion on Sunday said the UK would consider taking part in a US-led military effort to bolster the Gulf kingdom’s defenses.

The Conservative Prime Minister also said the UK would work with its allies to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East which have soared since the September 14 attack on the world’s largest oil processor and an oil field.

Although Britain had previously held back from attributing blame for the drone and missile attack, Johnson told reporters flying with him to New York on Sunday for the UN General Assembly that now ‘the UK is attributing responsibility with a very high degree of probability to Iran’ for the attack by drones and cruise missiles.

“We will be working with our American friends and our European friends to construct a response that tries to de-escalate tensions in the Gulf region,” Johnson said.

 

Johnson said he would meet Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani at the high-level UN gathering, adding that he is also due to hold talks with US President, Donald Trump, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel as well as France’s Emmanuel Macron.

While stressing that he wanted Britain to be a bridge between European friends and the Americans when it comes to the crisis in the Gulf, Johnson stressed the need for a diplomatic response to the Gulf tensions.

The Trump administration on Friday announced that it would send additional US troops and missile defense equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as part of a defensive deployment.

“We will be following that very closely. And clearly if we are asked, either by the Saudis or by the Americans to have a role, then we will consider in what way we could be useful,” Johnson added.