Saudi-led coalition: Iranian arms used in the Saudi attack

The Saudi-led Arab military coalition battling Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Monday, according to Reuters, that the attack on Saudi Arabian oil plants was carried out with Iranian weapons and was not launched from Yemen according to preliminary findings.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said that an investigation into Saturday’s strikes, which had been claimed by the Iran-backed Houthi militias, was still going on to determine the launch location.

“The preliminary results show that the weapons are Iranian and we are currently working to determine the location. The terrorist attack did not originate from Yemen as the Houthi militia claimed,” Malki told a press conference in Riyadh.

Authorities would reveal the location from where drones were launched at a future press briefing, Malki added.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that US officials had said intelligence indicated Iran was the “staging ground” for the attack and had shared the information with Riyadh. It quoted people familiar with the discussions.

Malki said the Gulf Arab state, the world’s top oil exporter, was capable of protecting vital energy and economic sites. “This cowardly act largely targets the global economy and not Saudi Arabia.”