Iranian missiles used in Yemen’s latest Aramco attack, says Saudi Arabia

Abbas Al Lawati March 19, 2021

(Bloomberg) - Missiles used in the attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities, for which Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi group has claimed responsibility, were made in Iran, a Saudi minister said.

Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir
Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel Al-Jubeir

“All of the missiles and drones that came into Saudi are Iranian-manufactured or Iranian-supplied,” Adel Al-Jubeir, minister of state for foreign affairs, said in an interview with Arab News published Friday afternoon. “Several of them, as we’ve said, came from the north; several came from the sea.”

The Houthis said earlier Friday they struck an Aramco refinery in the Saudi capital using six bomb-laden drones. The state news agency said that the attack, which took place at 6:05 a.m. local time, caused a fire that was later controlled with no impact on oil supplies or derivatives.

This month, Saudi Arabia intercepted a barrage of drones targeting its oil infrastructure. The development pushed oil prices to above $70 a barrel for the first time since January 2020.

Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia rarely claim lives or cause extensive damage but their frequency has increased in recent months, creating unease in the Gulf, a region key to global oil production and transit.

Al-Jubeir also said Saudi Arabia’s position toward normalization with Israel remains subject to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia may be on the way to normalizing ties.

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