Iranian Drones Used Against Saudi Oil Facilities?

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Like US-led Western officials and Israel, the Saudis are congenital liars.

Nothing they say is credible. They were caught red-handed lying repeatedly about Jamal Khashoggi's murder and dismemberment at the hands of their operatives.

They lied to conceal kingdom support for ISIS and likeminded jihadists, supplying them with weapons, munitions, banned sarin and other toxic substances.

Barrels containing banned chemicals in Syria were earlier found marked "Made in KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)." Protective masks were found. So were drugs used when inhaling chemicals. 

The Saudis repeatedly lie to conceal their high crimes of war and against humanity, along with horrendous human rights abuses against their own people — fooling no one.

On Monday, they lied claiming explosive-laden drones used by Yemeni Houthis to attack its oil facilities are Iranian-made — citing no credible evidence because none exists.

On Monday, the Saudi-owned and controlled Al Arabiya propaganda operation published the Big Lie, claiming the following:

"The Arab Coalition (sic) said that investigations indicated that the weapons used in the attacks on two Saudi Aramco oil facilities are Iranian (sic)," adding:

Saudi spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said "the coalition (sic) has the ability to confront attacks, and defend vital oil facilities."

" 'The investigation is continuing and all indications are that weapons used in both attacks came from Iran,' al-Maliki told reporters in Riyadh, adding they were now probing from where they were fired."

"Al-Maliki said the results of the investigation would be made public to the media when complete."

Despite spending countless tens of billions of dollars for US and other Western weapons, Yemeni Houthis outwitted Riyadh, penetrating its porous defense system to cause significant damage to its oil facilities.

If Houthis can do this, imagine what Russia, China and Iran are capable of if preemptively attacked by the US or another aggressor.

Trump regime war on Iran is unlikely. By no means are small-scale US attacks or other hostile actions on the country ruled out, including one or more possible casualty-causing incidents, upping the stakes for something more serious.

No credible evidence suggests Iranian involvement in Saturday Houthi attacks on Saudi oil facilities or use of Tehran-supplied drones, missiles, or other weapons to carry out what happened.

What possible benefit could Tehran achieve by involvement in attacking oil or other facilities in the kingdom? 

Its enemies gain a pretext what whatever they hope to accomplish against Iran, notably US and Israeli hardliners. 

Jewish state ones love having Washington wage its wars — earlier against Iraq, currently in Syria, Iran Israel's main target for regime change.

Tehran is militarily capable of responding strongly in self-defense if preemptively attacked by the US and/or other aggressors, including Israel.

Saudi strategic targets remain vulnerable to further attacks, Houthis perhaps able to inflict enough damage on its oil facilities to put them out of operation for weeks or months.

Will Trump regime hardliners and Riyadh risk it by doing something foolish? In early 2015, the Saudis and UAE, with intelligence, logistics, and other US help, thought they could roll the Houthis in short order.

They thought wrong. Yemenis Houthis proved they're a formidable adversary. Claiming their weapons can strike targets effectively anywhere in the kingdom is likely true.

Saturday was an example of what they're capable of repeating. What happened showed Riyadh is incapable of stopping it.

The kingdom's only sensible option is pulling out of the US war on Yemen. Let the Trump regime continue waging it alone, with NATO partners and Israeli involvement. 

The alternative for Riyadh is risking far greater damage and destruction to its oil, gas, and other strategic sites than already.

A Final Comment

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials, falsely claiming "intelligence indicates that Iran was the staging ground for a debilitating attack on Saudi Arabia's oil industry, and have shared the information with Saudi Arabia as both countries weigh retaliatory strikes, according to (unnamed) people familiar with the discussions," adding:

If the Trump regime and Saudis strike Iran, the "move could quickly broaden into a regional conflict."

The Journal failed to explain that attacking Iran preemptively would be naked aggression against a nonbelligerent state threatening no one — and that no credible evidence suggests its involvement in attacking Saudi oil sites.

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