President Donald Trump on Sunday evening tweeted that the U.S. has “reason to believe that we know” who is responsible for an attack on a Saudi Arabian oil field and the country is “locked and loaded depending on verification” following the crippling strike, CNN reports.
“Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!” Trump said.
Trump used similar language in June when he announced he had called off an attack on Iran just as the U.S. was “cocked & loaded” to strike because he decided it would cause too many deaths for a proportionate response to Tehran’s downing of a U.S. drone, CNN writes.
On Saturday, coordinated strikes on key Saudi Arabian oil facilities, among the world’s largest energy production centers, disrupted 5% of the daily global oil supply. Yemen’s Houthi rebels took responsibility for the attacks, but they are often backed by Iran.
Though Trump did not name Iran in his tweet, the attack has caused another spike in tensions between the Washington and Tehran. Prior to Saturday there were signs the U.S. appeared open to new negotiations and even a potential meeting later this month between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
A day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for the attack on Saudi oil facilities and argued there is “no evidence the attacks came from Yemen,” a senior administration official briefed CNN on information to back up Pompeo’s claims.
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