Saudi oil attacks: US will help allies
President Trump hints at military action; India condemns the attacks, reiterates its opposition to terrorism in all its forms
WASHINGTON/RIYADH: President Donald Trump on Monday promised to supply oil to US allies, after attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure that he blamed on Iran.
“We are a net Energy Exporter, & now the Number One Energy Producer in the World,” Trump tweeted. “We don’t need Middle Eastern Oil & Gas, & in fact have very few tankers there, but will help our Allies!” Trump tweeted.
US energy secretary Rick Perry pinned the blame squarely on Iran for “an attack on the global economy and the global energy market”. American officials released satellite images of the damage at the heart of the kingdom’s crucial Abqaiq oil processing plant and a key oil field, and two US officials said the attacker used multiple cruise missiles and drone aircraft.
The Americans alleged the pattern of destruction suggested Saturday’s attack did not come from neighbouring Yemen, as claimed by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels there. The Riyadh-led coalition made a similar accusation, alleging Iranian-made weapons had been used in the assault.
“All indications are that weapons used in both attacks came from Iran,” coalition spokesman Turki al-maliki told reporters in Riyadh, adding they were now probing “from where they were fired”. He labelled the Houthis “a tool in the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the terrorist regime of Iran”.
The new violence has led to fears that further action on any side could rapidly escalate a confrontation that’s been raging just below the surface in the wider Persian Gulf in recent months.
Russia urged “all countries to avoid hasty steps or conclusions that could exacerbate the situation” while the European Union stressed all sides should show “maximum restraint”.
China also called on the US and Iran to “exercise restraint... in the absence of a conclusive investigation or verdict”.
India on Monday condemned the drone attacks and reiterated its opposition to terrorism.
“We condemn the attacks of September 14, 2019, targeting the Abqaiq oil processing facility and Khurais oil field in Saudi Arabia. We reiterate our resolve to oppose terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a statement in response to a query on India’s reaction to the attacks.
Iran had earlier rejected the allegations from the US, and a government spokesman said there now was “absolutely no chance” of a meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Trump at the UN General Assembly next week.
Some US officials are investigating whether missiles were actually launched from Iraq or Iran, but Baghdad had denied its territory was used for the strikes. Prime Minister Mahdi told Pompeo that Baghdad’s aim was to “prohibit Iraqi territory being used to wage attacks against any neighbouring, brotherly or friendly country”.
For his part, Trump sent mixed signals, saying his “locked and loaded” government waited for Saudi confirmation of Iran being behind the attack while later tweeting that the US didn’t need Mideast oil “but will help our Allies!”
One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the US was considering dispatching additional military resources to the Gulf but that no decisions had been made.
The US already has the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier battle group in the area, as well as fighter jets, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and air defences.
Downplaying any talk of imminent US military action, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, told reporters at the White House that the president’s language was “a reflection” that his administration was advancing policies that protect the US “from these sorts of oil shocks”. “I think that ‘locked and loaded’ is a broad term that talks about the realities that” the US is “safer and more secure domestically from energy independence,” Short said.