Attack on Saudis came from Iran: US official

WASHINGTON: The US has concluded that the weekend attack on Saudi oil facilities was launched from Iranian soil and cruise missiles were involved, a US official told AFP on Tuesday.

The official, who declined to be identified, said the US was gathering evidence about the attack to present to the international community, notably European allies, at the UN General Assembly next week.

Asked if Washington was certain that the missiles had been launched from Iranian soil, the official answered, “Yes.”

US intelligence services have the capability of determining where the missiles were launched from, the official said, declining, however, to say how many were fired.

The weekend strikes on Abqaiq - the world’s largest oil processing facility - and the Khurais oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia have roiled global energy markets.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attacks but Saudi Arabia accused Iran and President Donald Trump also singled out Tehran.

“Certainly, it would look to most like it was Iran,” Trump said on Monday.

The US president said Washington wanted to help its Saudi ally but he wanted to avoid a war.

Tensions between Iran and the US and its allies have threatened to boil over since May last year when Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal and began reimposing sanctions.

IRAN’S LEADER RULES OUT TALKS WITH US

TEHRAN:Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of negotiations with the US “at any level”.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US had adopted a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran because it believes it cannot bring the Islamic republic to its knees through other means.

“The policy of ‘maximum pressure’ against the Iranian nation is worthless and all Islamic Republic of Iran officials unanimously believe there will be no negotiations with the US at any level,” he said in a televised address.

Earlier, US defence secretary Mark Esper labelled Iran a destabilising force in the region, but stopped short of directly accusing Tehran over the strikes.