Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized Western powers and Saudi Arabia accusing blaming Iran of carrying out the September 14 attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities.
The United States, some European Union (EU) member states and Saudi Arabia have blamed the attack on Tehran, instead of Yemen’s Houthi rebels who have claimed responsibility for the attacks that blocked 50 percent of Saudi Arabia’s oil production by shutting down 5.7 million barrels per day of production and knocked out about five percent of global oil supply, causing panic over possible crisis.
Iran denied this claim but said it was ready for a “full-fledged” war.
Erdogan told the US’s Fox News that it was not “the right thing to do” to accuse Iran.
“We need to recognise attacks of this scale come from several parts of Yemen. But if we just place the entire burden on Iran, it won’t be the right way to go. Because the evidence available does not necessarily point to that fact,” he said.
Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told reporters on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia was in consultation “with friends and allies about the next steps to take”.
The attacks come amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Last year, US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out from international nuclear treaty that lifted sanctions against Iran in exchange for a deescalation of nuclear enrichment.
Since then, Trump has started imposing sanctions that have ferociously clutched Iran’s economy.
Erdogan, during his briefing to Fox News, questioned the productivity of such sanctions.
“We are here today and gone tomorrow. Specifically, because we are neighbors with Iran, and I for one know that sanctions never solved anything,” Erdogan said.
