Saudi ‘proof’ Iran complicit in attack

TREADING SOFTLY: RIYADH TRYING TO TEMPER RESPONSE

Have ‘material evidence and Iranian weapons, proving [their] involvement’.

Saudi Arabia said it would produce evidence linking regional rival Tehran to an unprecedented attack on its oil industry that Washington believes originated from Iran in a dangerous escalation of Middle East friction.

Tehran again denied involvement in last Saturday’s attacks on oil plants, including the world’s biggest crude processing facility, that initially knocked out half of Saudi production.

“They want to impose maximum ... pressure on Iran through slander,” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said, according to state media. “We don’t want conflict in the region... Who started the conflict?” he asked, blaming Washington and its Gulf allies for war in Yemen.

Yemen’s Houthi movement, an ally of Iran battling a Western-backed, Saudi-led coalition for more than four years, has claimed responsibility and said it used drones to assault state oil company Aramco’s sites.

However, the Saudi defence ministry said it will present “material evidence and Iranian weapons, proving the Iranian regime’s involvement”.

Concrete evidence showing Iranian responsibility, if made public, could pressure Riyadh and Washington into a response, though both nations have stressed the need for caution.

US President Donald Trump has said he does not want war – that there is “no rush” to retaliate, and coordination is taking place with Gulf and European states.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said yesterday, in a call with South Korea’s leader, that the attack was a “real test of the global will” to confront subversion of international stability, state media reported.

His envoy to London, Prince Khalid bin Bandar, told the BBC the attack was “almost certainly” Iranian-backed, but “we’re trying not to react too quickly because the last thing we need is more conflict in the region”.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and United Nations officials monitoring sanctions on Iran and Yemen were heading to Saudi Arabia for talks and investigations.

A US official said the strikes had originated in southwestern Iran.

Oil prices fell after Saudi reassurances, having surged more than 20% at one point on Monday – the biggest intra-day jump since the 1990-91 Gulf War. –