Iran denies carrying out crippling attacks on Saudi oil facilities
ISTANBUL Iran on Sunday rejected U.S. accusations it was responsible for devastating attacks on two oil installations in Saudi Arabia that struck at the heart of the kingdoms oil industry and forced Aramco, the state oil company, to suspend its production output by half.
A rebel group in Yemen, known as the Houthis, had claimed responsibility for Saturdays attacks, saying that it had sent a fleet of attack drones toward the two oil facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia. Hours later, though, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a Twitter message, directly blamed Iran for what he said was an unprecedented attack on the worlds energy supply and said there was no evidence the attacks came from Yemen leading to speculation they had been launched directly from Iran, or on Tehrans behalf, by allies in Iraq.
Abbas Mousavi, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, called the allegations pointless while Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister, chastised Pompeo in a Twitter message on Sunday. Having failed at max pressure, @SecPompeos turning to max deceit a reference to the Trump administrations imposition of sanctions and other pressure tactics aimed at ending what the United States calls Irans malign regional policies.
Iraqs prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, also denied speculation that the attack had been launched from his country and said in a statement his government would deal firmly with anyone trying to attack neighboring countries from Iraq.
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