Iran's Houthis allies claim credit for drone attacks on Saudi pipelines after sabotage attacks on tankers

CNBC:
Oil prices rose sharply Tuesday morning on reports of a drone attack at oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia.

The incident is an “act of terrorism,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said according to the Saudi state news agency SPA, describing attacks on two oil pumping stations near Riyadh for the country’s East-West pipeline carried out with bomb-laden drones.
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No one has yet been directly accused of carrying out the attack, but a Yemeni Houthi-run TV channel announced on Tuesday morning it had launched drone attacks on several Saudi installations.

The channel Masirah TV, citing a Houthi military official, reported that “seven drones carried out attacks on vital Saudi installations.”

Al-Falih, according to the SPA statement, said: “These attacks prove again that it is important for us to face terrorist entities, including the Houthi militias in Yemen that are backed by Iran.”

Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are supported by Iran, have been fighting Saudi Arabia in their country since the kingdom launched an offensive against it in early 2015 in defense of its internationally-recognized government, which the Houthis had overthrown. The more than four-year long conflict has been deemed by the UN as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
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While no one has been accused of the vessel attack, unnamed U.S. officials have suggested it could be Iran or one of its proxies, the Houthi rebels battling the Saudis in nearby Yemen. The Houthis have launched numerous drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia and claim to have carried out drone attacks against the UAE.

Iran has denied any involvement or knowledge of the attacks, and called for an independent probe. Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Tuesday criticized “suspicious developments” in the region he said were aimed at creating tension.
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Iran does not have a lot of credibilities when it comes to denying terrorist attacks.  It has a history of using proxies for such attacks.  These attacks could be what was predicted by Israeli intelligence before the US diverted ships and bombers to the region.

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