Iran fired cruise missiles in attack on Saudi oil facility: Senior US official
It is an extraordinary charge to make, that Iran used missiles and drones to attack its neighbor and rival Saudi Arabia, as the region teeters on the edge of high tensions.
President Donald Trump warned the U.S. was “locked and loaded” to respond to the attack on Sunday, waiting for verification of who was responsible and for word from Saudi Arabia on how to proceed.
The Trump administration, in particular Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has blamed Iran for the attack since Saturday, but so far, there’s been no public accusation that Iran launched missiles.
The Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen claimed responsibility for the assault, which hit one of the world’s largest oil processing facilities, hundreds of miles from the Yemen-Saudi border, and sharply impacted global oil supplies.
But a senior U.S. official told ABC News Saturday that was false: “It was Iran. The Houthis are claiming credit for something they did not do.”
Pompeo tweeted that there was “no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.”
#BREAKING: Attack on two oil installations in Saudi Arabia came from Iranian soil – US officials tell @LucasFoxNews
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) September 16, 2019
#UPDATE: Spokesperson for Saudi-led Coalition: Preliminary indications of investigations indicate that the weapons used in the Aramco attack are Iranian weapons t.co/BG9n3l6Q3M
— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) September 16, 2019
AC