Saudi Arabia on Wednesday displayed evidence it labeled as “undeniable” proof Iran was behind devastating attacks on two major oil facilities — the scorched remnants of missiles and drones that prompted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to call the attack an “act of war.”
Saudi Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said 25 Iranian weapons were launched during the Saturday strikes that cut the kingdom’s oil production in half and briefly sent crude prices soaring.
During a news conference in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, al-Malki showed reporters wreckage from some of what he said were 18 drones and seven cruise missiles used in the attacks.
The debris, which was laid out on a series of short platforms, included large pieces of at least one light-blue rocket with a jet engine, several partially reconstructed drones and bits of wiring and electronics.
Al-Malki said the drones were triangular “delta-wing” models and that data from their computers showed they were Iranian, the BBC reported.
He also said the missiles were “Ya Ali” models that have been used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and have a range of 435 miles.
That distance refutes claims by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels that the attacks originated in their country, al-Malki said, “despite Iran’s best effort to make it appear so.”
Al-Malki also played surveillance video that he said showed a drone approaching from the north.
“The attack was launched from the north and unquestionably sponsored by Iran,” al-Malki said.
“The evidence . . . that you have seen in front of you makes this undeniable.”
He stopped short, however, of directly alleging that the weapons were launched from inside Iran.
Eighteen drones and three missiles were deployed against Abqaiq, home to the world’s largest oil-processing plant, but the missiles all “fell short,” Al-Malki said.
Four missiles struck the oil fields at Khurais, he said.
President Trump, who began the day by ordering up “substantially” strengthened sanctions on Iran, later warned that the US could employ the “ultimate option” by declaring war on the Islamic Republic.
During a flight to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince, Pompeo called the airstrikes an “Iranian attack” that’s “of a scale we’ve just not seen before.”
“The Saudis were the nation that were attacked. It was on their soil. It was an act of war against them directly,” he told reporters before landing in Jeddah.
Pompeo also said US intelligence has “high confidence” that the weapons used in the attacks were not part of the Houthis’ arsenal and have not been previously deployed by the rebel group.
”Were it the case that the Houthis’ fraudulent claim was accurate, were that true — it’s not, but were that true — it doesn’t change the fingerprints of the ayatollah as having put at risk the global energy supply,” he said, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In a tweet shortly before 9 a.m., Trump said he had “just instructed [Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin] to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!”
Hours later, following the Saudi news conference, Trump told reporters that there was also “plenty of time to do some dastardly things.”
“There are many options. And there’s the ultimate option, and there are options that are a lot less than that. And we’ll see,” he said before boarding Air Force One in Los Angeles.
“We’re in a very powerful position. Right now, we’re in a very, very powerful position.”
Asked if the “ultimate option” referred to a nuclear strike, Trump said it did not.
“No, I’m saying ‘the ultimate option,’ meaning go in — war,” he said.
In response to al-Malki’s presentation, an adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani issued a blanket denial of his allegations.
“The press conference proved that Saudi Arabia knows nothing about where the missiles and drones were made or launched from and failed to explain why the country’s defense system failed to intercept them,” Hesameddin Ashena tweeted.
Earlier Wednesday, Iran also sent a note to the US via Swiss diplomats in which it vowed: “If any action takes place against Iran, the action will be faced by Iran’s answer immediately.”
Additional reporting by Bob Fredericks with Post wires