Saudi Arabia promises ‘material evidence’ linking Iran to oil attack

Jeddah/New York (Reuters): Saudi Arabia said it would show evidence on Wednesday linking regional rival Tehran to an unprecedented attack on its oil industry that Washington believes originated from Iran in a dangerous escalation of Middle East frictions.

Tehran has denied involvement in the 14 September attacks on oil plants, including the world’s biggest crude processing facility which initially knocked out half of Saudi Arabia’s production.

“We don’t want conflict in the region ... Who started the conflict?” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, blaming Washington and Tehran for a war in Yemen.Yemen’s Houthi group, an ally of Iran, has claimed responsibility and said they used drones to assault state oil company Aramco’s sites.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other US officials were headed to Saudi Arabia. United Nations experts monitoring sanctions on Iran and Yemen also left for the kingdom, Saudi’s UN envoy told Reuters.

Concrete evidence showing Iranian responsible, if made public, could pressure Riyadh and Washington into a response, though US President Donald Trump said he does not want war.

The Saudi Defence Ministry said it will hold a news conference on Wednesday at 1430 GMT to present “material evidence and Iranian weapons proving the Iranian regime’s involvement in the terrorist attack”. Riyadh has already said preliminary results showed the attack did not come from Yemen.

A US official told Reuters the strikes originated in southwestern Iran. Three officials said they involved cruise missiles and drones, indicating a higher degree of complexity and sophistication than initially thought.