The weapons used to hit two oil facilities came from Iran, according to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Despite its "grave concern," Russia has said that military retaliation would be "unacceptable."
Image: AFP
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The Saudi-led military coalition battling Yemen's Houthi movement said on Monday that attacks on Saudi oil plants were carried out using Iranian weapons and did not originate from Yemen, according to preliminary findings.
"The investigation is continuing and all indications are that weapons used in both attacks came from Iran," coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki told reporters.
Russia, however, warned against blaming Tehran.
"We consider it counterproductive to use what has happened to stir up emotions regarding Iran in line with the well-known rhetoric of the United States," Russia's Foreign Ministry said, pointing out that Houthi rebels had claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In response, US President Donald Trump tweeted: "We'll see?"
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper also once more pointed the finger at Tehran, calling the recent attack "unprecedented" and saying that the US was working with its allies to defend the "international rules-based order that is being undermined by Iran." He also said that he had spoken with Saudi Arabia's crown prince and the Iraqi defense minister over the weekend.
Juergen Hardt, parliamentary foreign policy spokesman for the Christian Democrats, told newspapers of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that "a lifting of the export ban on defensive weapons systems is in our strategic interest" to help Saudi Arabia protect itself.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday offered to sell Saudi Arabia air defense weapons to protect against attacks, notably the S-300 surface-to-air missile system and its successor, the S-400.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Yemen has struggled to cope with crises prompted by its atrocious civil war, including catastrophic hunger and devastating cholera outbreaks. DW examines the conflict and how it affects the country's civilian population.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters
The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Fighting keeps food from the famished
The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Displacement: Converging crises
More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Cholera: A deadly epidemic
The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror'
In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Arhab
Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy
In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Peace: An elusive future
Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
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'Act of terror'
An economist from Norway — one of the world's largest oil and gas exporters — said the attacks could unleash a series of events that would hit the country's economy hard.
Norway is "completely dependent on trade with the outside world," said Oeystein Doerum, chief economist with the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise.
Doerum told the Norwegian news agency NTB that "it is positive when oil prices rise as a result of an increased demand but not when it is the consequence of a terrorist attack."
India also condemned Saturday's attack as an act of terrorism.
Raveesh Kumar, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman, said India vowed to "oppose terrorism in all its forms and manifestations."
But China’s Foreign Minstry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, warned against jumping to conclusions. She said that "given the absence of a conclusive investigation and result, I think it is irresponsible to determine who should assume responsibility for it."
