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Washington (CNN) - Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, blamed Iran for an attack on a Saudi oil field in a couple of tweets this Saturday.
Drone attacks at crucial oil facilities in Saudi Arabia have disrupted approximately half of the oil capacity of that kingdom, or 5% of the world's daily oil supply, CNN Business reported this Saturday morning. Yemen's Houthi rebels took responsibility for the attacks, but they often have the backing of Iran.
Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy. Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply. There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.
- Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) September 14, 2019
"Tehran is behind almost 100 attacks against Saudi Arabia, while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to participate in diplomacy," Pompeo tweeted, referring to Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Drone attacks destroy half of Saudi Arabia's oil capacity, 5 million barrels per day
“Amid all calls for reduced escalation, Iran has launched an unprecedented attack against the world's energy supply. There is no evidence that the attacks came from Yemen, ”Pompeo continued, without providing evidence that Iran was after the attacks.
Saudi Arabia has been leading a military campaign to quell the Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015. The conflict is widely seen as a power war between the Saudis and Iran, which has been supporting the Houthis.
Mike Pompeo, during a press conference. Pompeo also asked other countries to denounce Iran and promised US efforts to help support the energy market.
"We call on all nations to publicly and unequivocally condemn the attacks of Iran," he tweeted. "The United States will work with our partners and allies to ensure that energy markets remain well supplied and that Iran is responsible for their aggression."
Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy. Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply. There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.
- Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) September 14, 2019
CNN has contacted the State Department to obtain more information about the attack and who was involved.
Lawmakers on both sides of the hall intervened in the characterizations of the Pompeo attack.
"This is such an irresponsible simplification and how we get into silly wars of choice," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut tweeted in response to Pompeo.
"The Saudis and the Houthis are at war," he added. “The Saudis attack the Houthis attack back. Iran is supporting the Houthis and has been a bad actor, but it is not as simple as Houthis = Iran. ”
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas promised that "the United States supports our Saudi partners to face Iran’s terror campaign across the Middle East."
"The desperate efforts of the Ayatollahs to paralyze world energy markets will only renew our commitment to maximum pressure," he said in a statement. "The Iranian regime and its representatives should face the consequences of these attacks."
- Why is the country with the largest oil reserves in the world facing a shortage of gasoline?
President Donald Trump called on Prince Mohammad bin Salman to offer his support for the country's self-defense on Saturday, White House press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
"The United States strongly condemns today's attack on critical energy infrastructure," Deere said. Violent actions against civil areas and the vital infrastructure for the global economy only deepen conflicts and distrust. ”
The United States government "remains committed to ensuring that world oil markets are stable and well supplied," the spokesman said.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he "is ready to deploy resources from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves if necessary to compensate for any disruption in the oil markets" as a result of the attack on Saudi oil facilities, Department spokeswoman said. of Energy, Shaylyn Hynes, in a statement.
Perry received information about the attacks and directed the agency's leadership "to work with the International Energy Agency on the possible options available for collective global action if necessary," Hynes added.
An Energy Department official also noted that the US Strategic Petroleum Reserves "have 630 million barrels ... exactly for this purpose."
Jeremy Diamond, Gregory Clary, John Defterios, Victoria Cavaliere, Nada Altaher, Jennifer Hauser and Ivana Kottasová, all from CNN, contributed to this report.
Drone AttacksMike Pompeo
