Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 15 May 2019
Saudi Arabia says its oil pipeline was hit by drones

sult in sending 120,000 U.S.
troops to the Middle East
if Iran attacks American
forces or steps up work on
nuclear weapons, he said
if the U.S. was going to get
into a military conflict with
Iran, “we’d send a hell of a
lot more” troops.
Khamenei, Iran’s supreme
leader who has final say on
all state matters, was quot-
ed by state TV as telling se-
nior officials that his country
won’t negotiate with the
United States, calling such
talks “poison.” But he also
said, “Neither we, nor them
is seeking war. They know
that it is not to their ben-
efit.” At a Tuesday evening
gathering, he reportedly
added: “This is not a military
confrontation, because no
war is going to happen.”
Washington recently de-
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Saudi-flagged oil tanker Amjad off the coast of Fujairah, United ployed an aircraft carrier,
Arab Emirates, Monday, May 13, 2019. the USS Abraham Lincoln,
Associated Press and B-52 bombers to the
By AYA BATRAWY Yahya Sari. them of being backed by Saudi Arabia built its pipe- Persian Gulf to counter
JON GAMBRELL In a statement carried by Iran, Saudi Arabia’s region- line in the 1980s amid fears alleged, still-unspecified
Associated Press the state-run Saudi Press al rival. that the Iran-Iraq war would threats from Tehran.
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- Agency, al-Falih called the Saudi Arabia has been at cut off shipping through The U.S. has recently
ates (AP) — An oil pipe- pipeline attack “coward- war with the Houthis and the Strait of Hormuz. The warned ships that “Iran or
line that runs across Saudi ly,” saying recent acts of their allies in Yemen since 1,200-kilometer (746-mile) its proxies” could be target-
Arabia was hit Tuesday by sabotage against the king- March 2015, targeting the pipeline is actually two ing maritime traffic in the
drones, the Saudi energy dom were targeting not Iranian-allied rebels with pipes that have a total ca- region. Meanwhile, the de-
minister said, as regional only Saudi Arabia but also near daily airstrikes. pacity of 4.8 million barrels tails around alleged acts of
tensions flared just days the safety of the world’s “This is a message to Saudi of crude oil a day, accord- sabotage to four oil tankers,
after what the kingdom energy supply and global Arabia: Stop your aggres- ing to the U.S. Energy Infor- including two belonging to
called an attack on two of economy. sion,” Houthi spokesman mation Administration. Saudi Arabia, off the coast
its oil tankers in the Persian The attacks demonstrat- Mohammed Abdel-Salam The two oil pumping sta- of the UAE’s port of Fujairah
Gulf. ed the increased risks in a told The Associated Press. tions are over 800 kilome- remain unclear.
While both U.S. President region vital to global en- “Our goal is to respond to ters (500 miles) from Ye- Satellite images obtained
Donald Trump and Iran’s ergy supplies amid height- the crimes they are com- men’s northern border with Tuesday by the AP showed
Supreme Leader Ayatol- ened tensions following mitting everyday against the kingdom. no visible damage to the
lah Ali Khamenei said they the Trump administration’s the Yemeni people.” The drone strikes reflect vessels, and Gulf officials
were not planning for con- withdrawal from the 2015 Saudi Aramco, the gov- how the Houthis have tried have refused to say who
flict, the volatility was felt in nuclear deal between Iran ernment-controlled oil to expand their capabilities they suspected was re-
oil markets with benchmark and world powers, and the company, said that as a during the four-year war. sponsible.
Brent crude trading over subsequent re-imposition of precaution, it temporar- The rebels have targeted The MT Andrea Victory, one
$71 a barrel, up more than U.S. sanctions to cripple the ily shut down the East-West Riyadh with missiles and of the alleged targets, sus-
$1 on the day. Iranian economy. Iran has Pipeline and contained a used drones to disrupt air tained a hole in its hull just
The pipeline that runs from since said it would begin fire, which caused minor traffic at Saudi airports near above its waterline from
the kingdom’s oil-rich East- enriching uranium at high- damage to one pumping the Yemen border. Iran has “an unknown object,” its
ern Province to a Red Sea er levels by July 7 if world station. It added that Saudi been accused by the U.S. owner Thome Ship Man-
port was shut down, but powers failed to negotiate Aramco’s oil and gas sup- and the U.N. of supplying agement said in a state-
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid new terms for the deal. plies were not affected. ballistic missile technology ment. Images of the Nor-
al-Falih Al-Falih vowed that The Saudis did not imme- Saudi Arabia said the two and arms to the Houthis, wegian ship, which the
the production and export diately assign blame for petroleum pumping sta- which Tehran denies. company said was “not
of Saudi oil would not be the drone assaults, which tions that were struck by In Washington, Trump told in any danger of sinking,”
interrupted. The Houthis, targeted two oil pumping drones are located in the reporters he would “abso- showed damage similar to
who are at war with Saudi stations west of the capital greater region of Riyadh, lutely” be willing to send what the firm described.
Arabia, said earlier Tues- supplying the pipeline that home to the landlocked troops to the Middle East, Satellite images provided
day they launched seven runs from the east of Saudi capital. The stations, tar- but that he’s not planned to the AP by Colorado-
drones targeting vital Saudi Arabia to the Yanbu Port geted around the same for that and hopefully based Maxar Technologies
installations, without elabo- on its western coast. time early Tuesday, are lo- won’t have to plan for that. showed a boom surround-
rating. They later claimed Still, al-Falih in his state- cated in al-Duadmi and While Trump dismissed a ing the Emirati oil tanker A.
responsibility for the pipe- ment named Yemeni rebel Afif, about 200 kilometers report in The New York Michel, indicating the pos-
line attack in comments Houthis as a group that (125 miles) west and 400 ki- Times that the White House sibility of an oil leak. The
broadcast by Houthi mili- must be internationally lometers (250 miles) west of is reviewing military plans other three showed no visi-
tary spokesman Brig. Gen. confronted and accused Riyadh city, respectively. against Iran that could re- ble damage from above.q