The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has reportedly told the US President Donald Trump that the Kingdom was “willing and able” to respond to the latest attacks claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on its oil facilities.
“The kingdom is willing and able to confront and deal with this terrorist aggression,” MBS told Trump during a phone call on Saturday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
In a drone attacks earlier two state-owned Saudi Aramco oil facilities triggered enormous fires and disrupted global energy supplies.
In a statement released by the Saudi embassy in Washington DC, Trump told MBS that the US was ready to cooperate with the Kingdom to protect its security in the wake of the drone attacks.
In the phone call, Trump also told the crown prince the attacks hurt the US and global economies.
The attackers, Houthis have been fighting a Saudi-UAE-led coalition in an ongoing civil war in Yemen since 2015. They formally took responsibility for the attacks early this morning.
Close to 10 drones attacked the world’s largest oil processing facility causing massive fires at Abqaiq and Khurais, another major oilfield.
The attacks on the two facilities cut Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply by around 5.7 million barrels per day or about 50 percent of its output.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of attacking the Saudi oil plants. Riyadh accused Tehran of supplying the Houthis with missiles and drones used in the attacks.
The incident will lead to a further escalation in the multilayered conflict in Yemen, which has left tens of thousands dead and brought millions of Yemenis to the brink of famine.
Source : Various