Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry spokesman Colonel Turki al-malki has said strikes on the world’s biggest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia, as well as an oil field, which took out about 6 percent of global oil supplies, came from the “north” and were “unquestionably” sponsored by Iran, but the kingdom was still investigating where exactly they were launched from.
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At a press conference on Wednesday while showing debris from the alleged weapons, Colonel al-malki said there was no way the strikes could have been launched from Yemen, as claimed by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
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“The attack was launched from the north and unquestionably sponsored by Iran,” he told reporters. “We are working to know the exact launch point.”
Al-malki said the cruise missiles had a range of 700km (435 miles), meaning they could not have been fired from inside Yemen. He played surveillance video he said showed a drone coming in from the north.
“This is the kind of weapon the Iranian regime and the Iranian IRGC are using against the civilian object and facilities infrastructure,” he said, using an acronym for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corp.
However, al-malki didn’t directly blame Iran for the attack when asked by international journalists. He said once “the culprits” were definitively identified they would “be held accountable”.
While responding to the kingdom’s video evidence on assaults on its oil sites, an advisor to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Saudi Arabia has proved that “it knows nothing” about Saturday’s attack.
“The press conference proved that Saudi Arabia knows nothing about where the missiles and drones were made or launched from and failed to explain why the country’s defence system failed to intercept them,” Hesameddin Ashena wrote on Twitter.
Also, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who claimed responsibility for the weekend attack on Saudi oil facilities, said it has dozens of sites located in the United Arab Emirates listed as possible targets for attacks.
A military spokesman of the Iran-aligned organisation said the Houthis have new drones, powered by “normal and jet engines” that can reach targets deep in Saudi Arabia.
United States President, Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered increased sanctions on Iran, the latest escalation in tensions between the two countries following the attack over the weekend on Saudi oil facilities.
“I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!” Trump tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
Trump’s tweet came after Iran warned the United States it will retaliate “immediately” if Tehran is targeted, its state-run news agency reported, further raising Gulf tensions.
The new violence in the Middle East has led to fears that further action on any side could rapidly escalate a confrontation that’s been raging just below the surface in the wider region in recent months.
