Trump seeks room to manoeuvre in Saudi crisis
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump declared on Monday it “looks” like Iran was behind the explosive attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. But he stressed that military retaliation was not yet on the table in response to the strike against a key US Mid-East ally.
Oil prices soared worldwide amid the damage in Saudi Arabia and fresh Middle East war concerns. But Trump put the brakes on any talk of quick military action – earlier he had said the US. was “locked and loaded” – and he said the oil impact would not be significant on the US, which is a net energy exporter.
The Saudi government called the attack an “unprecedented act of aggression and sabotage” but stopped short of directly pinning blame on Iran.
Iran denied involvement. Trump, who has repeatedly stressed avoiding new Middle East wars, seemed intent on preserving room to manoeuvre in a crisis that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had immediately called Iran’s fault.
Pompeo said last Saturday: “Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.”
Trump, too, had talked more harshly at first. But by Monday afternoon he seemed intent on consultations with allies.
“That was an attack on Saudi Arabia,” he said. “It wasn’t an attack on us, but we would certainly help them,” he said, noting a decades-long alliance linked to US oil dependence that has lessened in recent years. The US has no treaty obligation to defend Saudi Arabia.
Trump said he was sending Pompeo to Saudi Arabia “to discuss what they feel” about the attack and an appropriate response.
One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US was considering dispatching additional military resources to the Gulf but 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.
Trump, alternating between aggressive and non-violent reactions, said the US could respond “with an attack many, many times larger” but also “I’m not looking at options right now.” |