2 Major Saudi Oil Installations Hit by Drone Strike, and U.S. Blames Iran

[anatta]

Drone attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck two key oil installations inside Saudi Arabia on Saturday, damaging facilities that process the vast majority of the country’s crude output and raising the risk of a disruption in world oil supplies.

The attacks immediately escalated tensions in the Persian Gulf amid a standoff between the United States and Iran, even as key questions remained unanswered — where the drones were launched from, and how the Houthis managed to hit facilities deep in Saudi territory, some 500 miles from Yemeni soil.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of being behind what he called “an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply” and asserted that there was “no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.” He did not, however, specify an alternative launch site, and the Saudis themselves refrained from pointing the finger directly at Iran.

President Trump condemned the attack in a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and offered support for “Saudi Arabia’s self defense,” the White House said in a statement, adding that the United States “remains committed to ensuring global oil markets are stable and well supplied.”
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The Houthis said they had launched the aerial attacks with 10 drones, which would amount to their most audacious strike on Saudi Arabia since the kingdom intervened in Yemen’s war more than four years ago. The Saudi-led bombing campaign has devastated the impoverished country and exacerbated the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Houthis are part of a regional network of militant groups aligned with and backed by Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival. American and Saudi officials suspect that Iran has dispatched technicians to Yemen to train the Houthis on drone and missile technology.

United Nations investigators have written that the Houthis have acquired advanced drones that could have a range of up to 930 miles. That leaves open the possibility that the drones used Saturday had flown from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. But they may also have been launched from another country, such as Iraq, or from inside Saudi Arabia itself.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has been training its militia proxies in the region, from Lebanon to Yemen, in more sophisticated warfare using drones, according to two people in Iran with knowledge of the programs.

In Yemen, for example, after Houthi missiles targeting Saudi Arabia were intercepted, Iran moved to train Houthis in drone technology, taking groups to Iran to master assembling, managing and repairing drones, said the people familiar with the programs.

[OG Yurt]

It won't really matter until Saudi strikes backs. Until then it is just a geopolitical oil issue. Their prices go up etc...

[anatta]

The Houthis have attacked Saudi infrastructure before, primarily with less accurate ballistic missiles.

The targeted oil facilities can process 8.45 million barrels of crude oil a day between them, the bulk of production in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, said production of 5.7 million barrels a day — well over half of the nation’s overall daily output — was suspended.

It was not immediately clear how badly the facilities were damaged, but shutting them down for more than a few days would affect the global oil supply. Analysts who closely follow the Saudi oil industry said they were hearing that the impact would not be severe — perhaps only a few days’ outage, which the Saudis could cover.

“Crude prices will still rise a bit, but apparently the world economy dodged a bullet,” said Robert McNally, the president of Rapidan Energy Group, a Washington-based market research firm.

The Energy Department said that, if needed, the United States was ready to use its strategic oil reserves to offset any disruption in supply.

The attacks not only exposed a Saudi vulnerability in the war against the Houthis, but also demonstrated how relatively cheap it has become to stage such high-profile strikes. The drones used may have cost $15,000 or less to build, said Wim Zwijnenburg, a senior researcher on drones at PAX, a Dutch peace organization.

The strikes illustrate how David-and-Goliath tactics using cheap drones are adding a new layer of volatility to the Middle East. Such attacks not only damage vital economic infrastructure, but can also increase security costs, disrupt markets and spread fear.

the drones gave the Houthis an edge because they were cheap to produce, hard to detect and shoot down, and able to cause damage and disruption hugely disproportionate to their cost. While the Houthis’ exact capabilities are not known, they have developed over time.

The Houthis’ alliance with Iran also raises the possibility that their successes could be shared with other Iran-aligned militant groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, he added.

The strike on one of the oil installations, in Abqaiq, was particularly worrying because it processes crude from several key Saudi oil fields, said Helima Croft, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, an investment bank.

“This is the mother lode for an attack on Saudi infrastructure,” she said. “We have always been concerned about an attack on Abqaiq.”

While the Houthis do not have significant financial resources, drones give them a way to hurt Saudi Arabia, which was the world’s third-highest spender on military equipment in 2018, investing an estimated $67.6 billion.

“This has given the Saudis a challenge they can’t confront, no matter what their financial, military or intelligence capabilities are,” said Farea Al-Muslimi, co-founder of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, which focuses on Yemen.

The attacks hit deeper into Saudi territory than most previous Houthi strikes and set off blazes whose smoke could be seen from space.

Although the Trump administration has been a vocal supporter of Saudi efforts to deter Iran and its allies in the region, congressional opposition to the sale of arms and the deployment of extra troops in Saudi Arabia has limited the scope of support from the United States.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/w...ne-attack.html

[ThatOwlWoman]

I have full confidence that our experienced-and-smarter-than-all-the-generals POTUS and his world-renowned personally-picked team of the best people-and-highly-trained-in-international-affairs team will figure this all out and do what's best for TrumpCo.

Meanwhile, fill up your gas tank while you can still afford to do so.

[anatta]

It won't really matter until Saudi strikes backs. Until then it is just a geopolitical oil issue. Their prices go up etc...

In July, in a major blow to the Saudi-led coalition, the United Arab Emirates, which had been providing arms, money and, crucially, ground troops in Yemen, announced a rapid pullout from a conflict that had become too costly. The move left diplomats and analysts wondering whether Saudi Arabia would continue the war on its own.

Congressional asshats have limited US sales of bombs/drones to KSA as well

[anatta]

I have full confidence that our experienced-and-smarter-than-all-the-generals POTUS and his world-renowned personally-picked team of the best people-and-highly-trained-in-international-affairs team will figure this all out and do what's best for TrumpCo.

Meanwhile, fill up your gas tank while you can still afford to do so.

it would be helpful if Congress stayed out of it.
Just like the stupid Russian sanctions, Congress is either inert or problematic

Yemen was a nasty war before - but now the Iranian drones have pushed it into KSA - something has to be done-
it's up to KSA if they want to go in.. we can help by start supplying logistics and weapons again to KSA

[ThatOwlWoman]

it would be helpful if Congress stayed out of it.
Just like the stupid Russian sanctions, Congress is either inert or problematic

Yemen was a nasty war before - but now the Iranian drones have pushed it into KSA - something has to be done-
it's up to KSA if they want to go in.. we can help by start supplying logistics and weapons again to KSA

Sure -- but Congress should stay out of it. Glad you're okay with your tax dollars going to yet another bogus bullshit war in the ME w/o any sort of voter say-so at all.

[anatta]

Sure -- but Congress should stay out of it. Glad you're okay with your tax dollars going to yet another bogus bullshit war in the ME w/o any sort of voter say-so at all.

KSA pays for their weapons.
KSA did not start this war /it started by the Houthi's crossing the Yemen border and killing their border guards

[ThatOwlWoman]

KSA pays for their weapons.
KSA did not start this war /it started by the Houthi's crossing the Yemen border and killing their border guards

I'm glad you've bought the Official Line, whatever that is. Let the bombing begin!

America's interests would be best served by withdrawing from the ME and letting them sort it out. Yes, that includes financial support of Israel too. If we feel the need to be involved, let it be via diplomacy.

[anatta]

I'm glad you've bought the Official Line, whatever that is. Let the bombing begin!

America's interests would be best served by withdrawing from the ME and letting them sort it out. Yes, that includes financial support of Israel too. If we feel the need to be involved, let it be via diplomacy.

I'm 100% with you on getting into wars in the Middle East, or regime change in Africa like Libya.

But we are not leading this war ( like Libya/Iraq) and we have a "special relationship" w/KSA

It's complicated, and KSA has been doing human rights violations with poor targeting in Sanaʽa, Yemen.
But that seems to be a reason to help them with the logistics,not sanction them.

Of course you know about Iran's malevolent behavior throughout the ME- this is a terrble escalation by them
-arming their proxy's with long range drones

[anatta]

Pension funds in Iran on brink of collapse amid US ‘maximum pressure’ campaign
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pen...ssure-campaign

....They have fewer resources. We can see it with the Shia militias in Iraq. They’re scrambling for resources. We think the Iranian government will shrink, that their GDP will shrink by as much as 12 or 14 percent this year,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on “Fox News Sunday,” speaking to the economic impact. “This will reduce their capacity to purchase the things they need, the equipment they need, the materials they need, to inflict terror around the world.”

The impact has been so severe that of the 18 existing retirement funds in Iran, 17 are in the red, according to these documents. That includes the pension funds for all of Iran’s armed forces.

As much as 80 percent of Iran’s retirement funds rely on government subsidies, which the documents refer to as unsustainable for not just pensions but for food products, drugs and fuel.

There are also signs of a growing crisis in Iran’s real estate market. The documents refer to the interconnected challenges as a “house of cards.”....

[Gonzomin]

The Houthis are in Yemen and they have launched about 200 attacks against the Saudis. This has nothing to do with Iran . This is just the best attack the Houthis have had. Trump wants his Iranian war. He would blame Iran if he got a flat tire.

[anatta]

The Houthis are in Yemen and they have launched about 200 attacks against the Saudis. This has nothing to do with Iran . This is just the best attack the Houthis have had. Trump wants his Iranian war. He would blame Iran if he got a flat tire.

you IDIOT. I'll have to ban you from now on

The Houthis are part of a regional network of militant groups aligned with and backed by Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival. American and Saudi officials suspect that Iran has dispatched technicians to Yemen to train the Houthis on drone and missile technology.

[cancel2 2022]

you IDIOT. I'll have to ban you from now on

The Houthis are part of a regional network of militant groups aligned with and backed by Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival. American and Saudi officials suspect that Iran has dispatched technicians to Yemen to train the Houthis on drone and missile technology.

Bozoman is a real numskull, where do these fools come from?

[anatta]

Bozoman is a real numskull, where do these fools come from?

beats me Havana -they can't all be millenials...

lol@ Bozoman = truely clueless with TDS is not a good combo!