Arabs more unified after Saudi oil facility attacks

Islam Mohamed

Arab leaders are making high-level contacts to discuss an appropriate response to the latest attack on two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, at a time Iran shirks responsibility for the attacks.

Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Abulgheit, has unveiled a plan by Arab states to act together in reaction to the September 14 attacks after the end of an inquiry into them.

“We have indicators that the weapons used in the attacks were made in Iran,” Abulgheit said in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

He added that soon after the inquiry into the attacks comes to an end, Arab states should take action at influential international institutions, including the United Nations.

Abulgheit praised what he called the “wisdom” of the Saudi leadership. He accused the Iranian regime of working to export the ideals of Iran’s Islamic revolution.

“Arab states stand in solidarity with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states,” Abulgheit said.

He referred to the presence of what he described as a “clear” Arab strategy for dealing with Iranian interference in the affairs of the region.

Mojahedin-e Khalq

The US-based National Council for Resistance of Iran held a press conference at the Washington Press Club, during which it revealed information about the Iranian attack on the Saudi oil facilities.

The council said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif were involved in planning the attacks.

The information in this regard, the council said, was acquired by Mojahedin-e Khalq organization.

According to the organization, the attacks plan was debated on August 31 at a meeting of the National Supreme Security Council of Iran in Rouhani’s and Zarif’s presence.

The attacks negatively affected the production of the two facilities, which accounts for around 5% of the world’s overall oil production.

Nevertheless, Saudi oil giant Aramco, which owns the two refineries attacked on September 14, said it succeeded in fixing the refineries and bringing production levels back to normal.

Arab gains

Iranian affairs specialist Mohamed Aladdin said Iran’s mullahs face accusations of being responsible for the attacks, having failed to remove their country’s fingerprints from these attacks.

“A unified Arab position on the attack is a major loss for Iran,” Aladdin said. “This unified position will put Iran in an embarrassing situation,” he told The Reference.