US condemns attack by Houthi rebels on Saudi oil facilities

United States on Monday condemned the attacks carried out by Houthi rebels in Yemen on Sunday against Saudi oil installations. Likewise, the White House has asserted that the Iranian-backed group must be serious about Washington-backed peace efforts.

“We condemn the heinous drone and missile attack by the Houthis on Saudi facilities in Aramco”State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. “The frequency of the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia – attacks like these – are not the actions of a peace-conscious group,” he added.

“The Houthis, in our view and that of our allies and partners, must demonstrate their willingness to participate in a political process. They just have to stop attacking and start negotiating “Price warned.

Houthi rebels, backed by the Iranian regime as part of the war in Yemen, claimed responsibility for an attack on the Saudi oil giant’s facilities on Sunday, as well as another attack on a residential complex of oil workers.

Saudi Arabia also intercepted a drone flurry and responded by bombing the capital, Sana’a., controlled by the rebels.

US President Joe Biden has made ending the six-year conflict a priority, which has fueled what the United Nations is calling the most serious humanitarian situation in the world, appointing an envoy, Tim Lenderking, to attempt to negotiate peace.

The administration also removed the Houthis from the list of designated terrorist groups, in response to complaints from groups that the US measures threatened their operations.

Saudi Arabia confirmed on Sunday that two major oil facilities in the country, including land owned by state-owned Aramco, had been attacked. no accidents or material damage were recorded, reported the official Saudi agency SPA.

A spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Energy quoted by SPA said that one of the oil tank farms in the eastern port of Ras Tanura, one of the largest crude transport ports in the world, was attacked Sunday morning by a drone “from the sea”, without specifying the location.

He said hours later there was “another deliberate attempt to attack the Aramco facility” when “ballistic missile shards” fell near a residential area owned by the oil company. in the city of Dhahran.

According to the source, in this residential area live “thousands of company employees and their families of different nationalities”.

The two attacks, however, “did not result in any injury or loss of life or property,” Energía’s spokesperson reported.

He also condemned the “repeated acts of sabotage and hostility”, which “target not only the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but also the security and stability of the world’s energy supply and, consequently, the world economy. “.

This incident comes after the announcement on Sunday by the Houthi rebels in Yemen who launched a total of 22 attacks against different parts of Saudi Arabia throughout the day, in which 14 drones and eight ballistic missiles were used, and claimed to have successfully attacked Aramco facilities.

For its part, the Riyadh-led military coalition, which has intervened in Yemen since 2015, announced that intercepted a total of 12 bomber drones directed against its territory and other ballistic missiles targeting the Yazan area.

On March 4, the Houthis claimed to have hit targets of Saudi state oil company Aramco in the western city of Jeddah with a missile., located on the Red Sea coast, an area that is a regular target of the Yemeni rebel movement.

Last November they struck an oil tank at a distribution station without causing significant damage and in September 2019 another attack claimed by the Yemeni group resulted in the suspension of 50% of Aramco, the largest oil company. world, although Riyadh attributed the aggression against the Iranian regime.

With information from AFP and EFE

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