ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE
On September 14, Ansar Allah (the Houthis) launched a successful attack on Buqayq and Khurais facilities of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco company. The attack forces Saudi Arabia to decrease the daily oil output by 5 million barrels. This is about a half of the output.
Immediately after the attack, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of being behind the attack. According to Pompeo, Iran conducted about ‘100 attacks’ on Saudi Arabia.
We call on all nations to publicly and unequivocally condemn Iran’s attacks. The United States will work with our partners and allies to ensure that energy markets remain well supplied and Iran is held accountable for its aggression
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) September 14, 2019
Meanwhile, US senator Lindsey Graham vowed to carry out military strikes on Iran’s oil facilities.
Iran will not stop their misbehavior until the consequences become more real, like attacking their refineries, which will break the regime’s back.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 14, 2019
US President Donald Trump also phoned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and offered help to the Kingdom in ensuring its security. Trump added that the attack on the Saudi oil facilities could be detrimental to the American and the global economy.
The US Department of Energy said that it’s ready to deploy resources to keep the global energy market stable:
“The secretary [of energy] has been briefed on today’s drone attack in Saudi Arabia and stands ready to deploy resources from the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves if necessary to offset any disruptions to oil markets as a result of this act of aggression. The secretary has also directed DOE leadership to work with the International Energy Agency on potential available options for collective global action if needed.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to the accusations by denouncing them as lies.
Having failed at "max pressure", @SecPompeo's turning to "max deceit"
US & its clients are stuck in Yemen because of illusion that weapon superiority will lead to military victory.
Blaming Iran won't end disaster. Accepting our April '15 proposal to end war & begin talks may.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 15, 2019
