Iran dismisses US charges over Saudi oil plant attack
WAR OF WORDS Pompeo blames Tehran, not Houthi rebels; probe on if cruise missiles were used
NEW YORK: US secretary of state Michael Pompeo blamed Iran for a series of brazen attacks on a massive Saudi Aramco oil facility, saying there was no evidence the drones originated in Yemen as Tehran-backed rebels there claimed.
Iran denied responsibility for the raids on Saturday, which forced Saudi Arabia to slash its daily oil output in half. Pompeo tweeted after the White House confirmed that President Donald Trump offered support for Saudi Arabia’s self-defence in a call on Saturday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Iran launched an “unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply”, Pompeo said on Twitter after at least one Republican lawmaker urged the US to respond in kind with a strike on Iranian oil facilities. He gave no evidence to back up that allegation.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi and US officials are investigating the possibility that cruise missiles were launched from Iraq, which is much closer than Yemen, and is home to a host of Iran-backed Shia militants. Pompeo said the US will work with allies to ensure the energy market remains well supplied, echoing comments from the White House. He also called on all nations to “publicly and unequivocally condemn Iran’s attacks”.
Saudi Arabia, which is locked in multiple proxy wars with Iran in the West Asia trying to contain its widening influence, hasn’t blamed anyone for the assault on the oil facility.
The attack intensified the volatility in the Persian Gulf region, which has been destabilised by a showdown between the US and Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi rejected the latest US allegations, saying such “blind and fruitless accusations and statements are unfathomable and meaningless”. Foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, “Having failed at ‘max pressure,’ @SecPompeo’s t urning to ‘max deceit.’”