Saudi Arabia has ordered Iran’s military attaché, his assistant and three embassy staff members to leave the kingdom within 24 hours after declaring them persona non grata, the Saudi foreign ministry said on Saturday, according to Reuters.
The ministry cited what it described as continued Iranian attacks on Saudi territory.
The kingdom has come under attack by hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, with most intercepted.
Several of these attacks targeted the US Embassy in Riyadh, including one in which the embassy was attacked by two drones, causing limited fire and minor material damage to the building.
The Saudi foreign ministry warned that ongoing Iranian attacks would trigger further escalation and carry “significant consequences" for current and future relations.
On Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud ripped Iran over its attacks on its neighboring countries, warning that Saudi Arabia reserves the right to respond militarily.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers, Prince Faisal said that Iran “doesn’t believe in talking to its neighbors", adding that “it tries to pressure its neighbors" and stressed that the pressure is not going to work.
“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 rejected Iran’s claims that its attacks on civilian sites of neighboring countries are linked to the presence of US military bases as “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 move followed a similar one by Qatar, which declared the military attaché and the security attaché at the Iranian embassy in Doha, along with staff working in the two attaché offices, persona non grata.
The ministry delivered an official memorandum to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Wednesday, informing it of the decision and requesting that the individuals leave Qatari territory within 24 hours.