Iran faces fallout after Saudi Arabia thwarts alleged plot on oil facilities

An incident in which Saudi naval forces stopped an arms-laden boat in the kingdom's territorial waters will have serious political and diplomatic consequences for Iran, both regionally and internationally, a Saudi military expert said.

The episode also deals a blow to the regional schemes of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), former Saudi army officer and military attaché Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Shehri told Al-Mashareq.

The Saudi navy on Friday evening (June 16th) foiled an infiltration attempt by three boats bearing red and white flags in the vicinity of the Marjan oil field platforms near the Kuwaiti border, the Saudi Press Agency reported Monday.

Warning shots were fired, and one of the boats was captured, while the other two fled, the agency said, adding that the captured boat turned out to be laden with weapons "for subversive purposes".

In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Information and Culture said the navy had arrested three IRGC elements, who are now being questioned by the authorities.

"It is clear this was intended to be a terrorist act in Saudi territorial waters designed to cause severe damage to people and property," the ministry said.

Iran on Monday denied that the three men arrested were IRGC elements.

Majid Aghababaie, head of border affairs at Iran's interior ministry, said they were fishermen from the southern Iranian port of Bushehr, AFP reported.

"They are from Bushehr and were fishing when they were arrested by the Saudi coastguard," he said, in remarks carried by the ILNA news agency. "There is no proof that they are military personnel."

A history of regional interference

The IRGC has been meddling in regional affairs through its proxies and affiliates, such as Hizbullah, or through political skirmishes, al-Shehri said.

With Friday's incident, "it now appears it has moved to the stage of direct intervention with armed groups", he said.

Apprehending the boat and foiling a potential attack dealt a severe blow to the plans of the IRGC, he said, noting that "the three detainees represent irrefutable evidence of Iran's interference that cannot be denied".

The boats had been headed for the floating offshore platforms of the Marjan oil field, which include Aramco's largest offshore oil platform.

"Any act of sabotage would have caused heavy financial losses to the company and disrupted the level of oil output," al-Shehri said, adding that a potential environmental disaster could have been caused by oil and petroleum leakage.

"Had the IRGC boats succeeded in reaching the platform, it would have been very difficult to use weapons against them, due to concerns about causing damage to the platform or igniting combustible substances," he said.

The IRGC has intervened in Syria directly under the pretext of fighting terrorism, al-Shehri said, but the matter is different in the case of Saudi Arabia, and will have serious political and diplomatic consequences.

These may include the imposition of new sanctions on Iran and the IRGC, as the kingdom is expected to take up the issue of this aggression -- which can be described as direct military intervention -- with international forums, he said.