JohninMK Wed Sep 18, 2019 1:35 pm
Reuters Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Text size A A A
Iran dismissed US accusations over weekend attacks of Saudi Arabia’s oil sites as a distraction from the realities in the Middle East, Iran’s Students News Agency ISNA quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying on Wednesday.
“The US should seek to look at the realities in the region, rather than simply using distractions. We feel that the US government is trying to somehow forget the realities in the region,” Zarif said.
Tehran has denied involvement in the Sept. 14 attacks on oil plants, including the world’s biggest crude processing facility, that initially knocked out half of Saudi production.
Reuters, Dubai Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Text size A A A
Iran's retaliation to any military attack will not be "limited to its source," Tehran said in an official note to Washington, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday.
"In an official note to the United States via Swiss embassy, Iran has reiterated that it was not behind attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities and it has warned that any move by America against Iran will get immediate reaction," ISNA reported.
Reuters Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Text size A A A
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that “Yemenis” attacked Saudi Aramco oil facilities as a “warning,” Iranian news agencies reported.
Rouhani says the Iran-backed Houthis had attacked Saudi oil facilities at the weekend as a “warning”, in response to the Arab Coalition's activities in Yemen. Rouhani blamed the Arab Coalition for the start of the conflict in the region, according to Iranian news agencies, and added that US accusations that Iran was behind an attack on Saudi oil sites were aimed at increasing pressure on Tehran.
“We don't want conflict in the region ... Who started the conflict? Not the Yemenis. It was Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, America, certain European countries and the Zionist regime (Israel) which started the war in this region,” Rouhani said in a video carried by Iranian media.
"While exerting psychological and economic pressure on the Iranian people (through sanctions), they want to impose maximum ... pressure on Iran through slander," Rouhani added. "Meanwhile, no one believes these accusations."
Iran's defense minister Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami added to Rouhani's comments and denied that Tehran had any role in the attacks on Saudi Aramco's oil installations, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Wednesday.
"Rejecting comments about Iran's role in the operation, [Hatami] said the issue is very clear: There has been a conflict between two countries [Yemen and Saudi Arabia]," Tasnim said.
Multiple reports have quoted US intelligence sources as saying that the attack originated from Iran. US President Donald Trump previously said on Monday that it was “looking like” Iran was responsible for the attack.
The Arab coalition said on Monday that they were continuing the investigation with the relevant authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and that the initial investigation indicated that the weapons used in the attack which targeted oil facilities in Abqaiq and Hijrat Khurais were Iranian.