Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead(WASHINGTON) — The Saudi government on Wednesday publicly blamed Iran for the attack on its oil facilities over the weekend.
During a news conference in Riyadh on Wednesday, the Saudi defense ministry showed surveillance footage of the missiles traveling south from Iran and remnants of some of the Iranian drones used in the attack, they said.
Flowing the attack, President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted that the U.S. was “locked and loaded,” but was waiting for the Saudis to verify Iran’s culpability and provide guidance on “under what terms we would proceed!”
The Saudis presented the evidence shortly before as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was expected to land in Jeddah for a meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to “coordinate efforts to counter Iranian aggression in the region,” according to his spokesperson Morgan Ortagus.
And the presentation came just hours after Trump tweeted that he was ordering Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to increase economic sanctions on Iran in response to the attack.
“I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!” he tweeted while traveling in California.
In August, the U.S. placed sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, which Iran called “childish.”
In June, Trump announced what he called “hard hitting” sanctions on Iran, including on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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