The brink of war?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i...ikes-jnm9cz9kb
Iran and US on brink over attack on oil sites
Iran and the US have threatened each other with military action following a huge attack on Saudi oil facilities, bringing tensions in the Gulf region to boiling point.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, blamed Tehran for the drone attacks on two facilities, even though they have been claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and warned that Iran would be “held accountable for its aggression”. Soon after, Amirali Hajizadeh, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps Aerospace Force, said that any US bases or aircraft carriers within a 2,000-mile radius of Iran could be targeted by its missiles and that Tehran has prepared itself for “fully-fledged war”.
The attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais installations, 118 miles apart in eastern Saudi Arabia, early yesterday sparked raging fires and have halved Saudi Arabia’s oil output — which totals 5 per cent of the world’s supply — to 5.7 million barrels daily. The blazes broke out at around 4am local time and have since been brought under control, but satellite images show acrid black clouds covering a huge area around the facilities in the hours after the attacks.......
Saudi Arabia has not commented on who it believes to be behind the strikes, although Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister who was newly appointed to the role last week, described it as a “terrorist attack” which “threatens the world economy”. But Mr Pompeo said there is “no evidence” that the attacks were orchestrated by the Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran in their fight against the government of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and had in fact been arranged directly from Tehran. His comments have quashed hopes of the thaw in US-Iran relations which had been anticipated following the resignation of John Bolton as national security adviser last week.
Iran has hit back against Mr Pompeo’s claim that it was behind the attacks, with Abbas Mousavi, the foreign ministry spokesman, claiming the accusation was part of Washington’s policy of “maximum falsification”. Mr Mousavi also described Mr Pompeo’s tweets as “blind and abortive comments that are obscure and meaningless within a diplomatic framework” and accused Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, which is supporting the internationally-recognised government, of “fuelling the flames of war”.
Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Republican, raised the temperature further, tweeting: “Iran will not stop their misbehaviour until the consequences become more real, like attacking their refineries, which will break the regime’s back.” “It is now time for the US to put on the table an attack on Iranian oil refineries if they continue their provocations or increase nuclear enrichment,” he added........
President Trump spoke to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia by telephone last night and confirmed the US’s readiness to “cooperate with the Kingdom, by all means conducive to maintain its security and stability”, according to a report in the official Saudi Press Agency. The UK’s foreign office condemned the strikes as “dangerous, provocative and completely unacceptable”. There have so far been no reported casualties or injuries.........
Riyadh is now scrambling to restore its output and stem the damage to its economy.........