US Charges on Saudi Attacks Aim to Mar Tehran's Image

EghtesadOnline: The United States' allegations against Iran about the Saturday attacks on Saudi Arabian oil installations resemble plans by “secret services” to tarnish a country's image to prepare the ground for future plots, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said.

News ID: ۷۴۸۴۴۲

16 September 2019

"Such blind and pointless allegations and comments are meaningless and incomprehensible within the diplomatic framework," Abbas Mousavi said on Sunday, ISNA reported.

Saudi Arabia's oil industry was hit early on Saturday by drone attacks that knocked out more than half of the kingdom's output, according to Financial Tribune.

While Yemen's Houthi group, which is at war with a Saudi-led coalition, claimed responsibility for the attack, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put the blame squarely on Iran, writing on Twitter that there was "no evidence the attacks came from Yemen".

"Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply," Pompeo claimed, calling on all nations to publicly and unequivocally condemn the alleged Iranian attacks, Reuters reported.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also blamed the incident on Iran, saying Washington should consider a retaliatory attack on Iran's oil refineries.

"It is now time for US to put on the table an attack on Iranian oil refineries if they continue their provocations or increase nuclear enrichment," he tweeted.

He contended that Iran's support for the Houthis “is yet another example of how Iran is wreaking havoc in the Middle East. [Iran] is not interested in peace.”

The US, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, has already been at odds with Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal. It has exited the multinational deal unilaterally and has imposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran as part of its so-called "maximum pressure campaign" to win military and nuclear concessions from the country.

‘Maximum Deceit’

The spokesman said Americans have adopted a 'maximum pressure' policy that has apparently changed to 'maximum deceit' due to lack of success.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also wrote on his Twitter account that "US & its clients are stuck in Yemen because of illusion that weapon superiority will lead to military victory.

"Blaming Iran won't end disaster. Accepting our April 15 proposal to end war & begin talks may," he added, referring to a four-point peace proposal that Tehran submitted to the United Nations in April 2015 in an effort to help end the conflict in Yemen.

The spokesman blamed the Saudi-led coalition for continuing war in the region by repeatedly attacking Yemen.

"Yemenis have shown they resist war and invasion," he said.

Mousavi said the only way to end the crisis in Yemen and establish peace in the region is to stop the assaults of the Saudi-led coalition, cut western political and arms support and try to find a political solution.