Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that it appears as though Iran is responsible for the attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
“Well, it’s looking that way,” Trump was quoted as saying by Sputnik on being asked if Iran was responsible for the drone strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities.
Talking to reporters from the White House, the US President added that it “certainly would look” like Iran was behind the drone strike.
However, the President stressed that he doesn’t want to start a war with Iran.
“I know they want to make a deal. At some point, it will work out,” the President said.
This comes after the Iranian President said the people of Yemen have a right to self-defence.
“As for the drone attack… I would like to note security issues. Every day, Yemen is bombed and its innocent population is killed. Therefore, the people of Yemen were forced to respond due to the inflow of weapons that enters Saudi Arabia daily and is used against them [Yemen]. The people of Yemen protect themselves from attacks,” the Iranian President said.
The attack which took place on Saturday forced Saudi Arabia to shut down two Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities, namely Abqaiq and Khurais. The incident led to a cut in oil production totalling 5.7 million barrels per day — about half of Saudi Arabia’s daily oil output. Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack.
On September 15, the Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s statement which accused Tehran of being involved in the drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
“The policy of exerting ‘maximum pressure’ pursued by the United States has rushed towards ‘maximum lies’ apparently due to its failure,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said while commenting on Pompeo’s allegations.