Iran’s foreign minister Mohammed Zarif has warned Tehran is prepared for “all out war” if the US launches a Military Strike on the country.

Speaking to CNN, Zarif made the threat over claims in Washington that Iran was responsible for an attack on Saudi oil facilities last week.

Houthi rebels currently fighting Saudi Arabia in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, which caused massive fires at two of the nation’s largest oil facilities.

Locked and loaded

But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speculated that Iran — which backs the Houthis in Yemen — was in fact behind the attack, which was carried out using drones.

President Donald Trump is believed to have asked the Pentagon for possible retaliation against Iran over the attack, and tweeted that the US was “locked and loaded.” He later tweeted that sanctions against the country would be increased.

I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2019

Asked by CNN what Iran’s response would be in the event of a military strike, Zarif said: “All-out war”.

“I make a very serious statement about defending our country. I am making a very serious statement that we don’t want to engage in a military confrontation,” said Zarif. “We won’t blink to defend our territory.

"Act of war"or AGITATION for WAR?

Remnants of #B_Team (+ambitious allies) try to deceive @realdonaldtrump into war.

For their own sake, they should pray that they won't get what they seek.

They're still paying for much smaller #Yemen war they were too arrogant to end 4yrs ago.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 19, 2019

Pompeo is currently in Saudi Arabia discussing responses to the attack last week with defacto ruler of the kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman.

“This is an attack of a scale we’ve just not seen before,” Pompeo told reporters. “The Saudis were the nation that were attacked. It was on their soil. It was an act of war against them directly.”

Saudi Arabia is keen to make the case that Iran, its major regional rival, is behind the attack, and claimed to have evidence that the Houthis could not have carried it out.