Saudi Arabia is hoping for de-escalation and dialogue, Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim said, when asked at a conference in Berlin about the situation in the Middle East following Iran’s missile attack against Israel, Reuters reports.

Al-Ibrahim called the escalation unfortunate but said it was very hard to avoid discussing.

“We hope that wisdom will prevail, de-escalation will happen, dialogue will come into place and more collaboration will be seen globally, but also regionally for us to address these challenges,” he said.

Fears that Iran and the US would be drawn into a regional conflict have risen with Israel’s intensifying assault on Lebanon in the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there, and its year-old conflict in the Gaza Strip.