Saudi council of ministers recommits to preventing regional conflict

Statement comes amid heightened tension in region

Saudi King Salman has called an emergency summit on recent attacks faced by the kingdom. Reuters

Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers reiterated the country's commitment to balancing global oil markets and preventing regional conflict amid tensions between Iran and the United States, state media reported on Wednesday.

The kingdom "will do everything in its power to prevent any war and its hand is always extended to peace", a Cabinet statement said. The government is also committed "to achieving balance in the [oil] market and working towards its stability on a sustainable basis".

King Salman chaired the Cabinet's session at Al Yamamah palace in Riyadh on Tuesday afternoon.

The Cabinet welcomed the results of an Arab ministerial meeting in Tunisia last week.

Saudi Arabia will host two emergency summits to discuss the implication of recent attacks against the kingdom.

The meeting came amid heightened tensions in the region after the tightening of US sanctions on Iran, particularly its vital oil exports, the deployment of US warships and bombers to the region and attacks on an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia and on tankers off the coast of the UAE.