JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says Muslim nations must confront recent attacks blamed on Iran with "all means of force and firmness."

Ibrahim al-Assaf made the comments early Thursday at a meeting of foreign ministers of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jiddah ahead of a series of summits in the kingdom.

Al-Assaf said the alleged sabotage of boats off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and a drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels required the region to "make more efforts to counter the terrorist acts of extremist and terrorist groups."

Iran has denied being involved in the attacks, which come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S.

Al-Assaf added: "We should confront it with all means of force and firmness."