The True Cost of the Attack on Saudi Arabia's Oil Supply

Mohammed Ayoob

Security, Middle East

Saudi Arabia has been the kingpin of American strategy toward Iran. Any loosening of Washington’s ties with Riyadh is bound to redound to Tehran’s benefit.

The pre-dawn attacks on September 14 knocked out more than half of the Saudi oil output, or about 5.7 million barrels per day amounting to five percent of the global oil supply. This daring attack was claimed by the Houthis of Yemen but blamed on Iran by Saudi Arabia and the United States brought the Middle East to the brink of war. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his initial statement held Iran responsible for the attack. President Donald Trump, while implying that Iran was the culprit, sent mixed messages. On the one hand, he declared that the United States is “locked and loaded” to retaliate for the attack. On the other, he stated that he would like to avoid war with Iran and would defer to the Saudis in making a decision about identifying the source of the attack.

On September 18, the Saudi defense ministry declared that the attack was “unquestionably sponsored” by Tehran and put on display the debris of drones and cruise missiles to demonstrate that they were of Iranian origin. A total of twenty-five drones and missiles were used in the strike launched, ministry spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki told a news conference. “The attack was launched from the north and unquestionably sponsored by Iran,” he said, adding that Iranian delta-wing unmanned aerial vehicles were used in addition to cruise missiles. However, he went on to qualify his conclusion by saying that an investigation into where the attacks were launched from was still underway and the result would be announced at a later date. There has been no word since from Riyadh regarding the result of the investigation.