The United States says "ready to fight back"

The United States declared on Sunday "ready to respond" to drone attacks the previous day against oil installations in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in a halving of production, strategic for the global economy.

Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the spirit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!

– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2019

"Saudi Arabia's oil supply has been attacked. There are reasons to believe that we know the culprit, are ready to retaliate based on the verifications, but we are waiting for the (Saudi) Kingdom to tell us who it believes to be the culprit of this attack, and in what form we will have to act ! ", Tweeted Donald Trump, who for the first time alluded to a possible military response. In a previous tweet, the US president had "authorized the use of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, if necessary, for a quantity that remains to be defined".

Iran and Iraq refute any link with attack

The Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels Houthis, who have been facing a Riyadh-led military coalition for the past five years, have claimed responsibility for the attacks on the facilities of state-owned giant Aramco.

There is no evidence that this "unprecedented attack on global energy supplies" has come from Yemen, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday, accusing Iran of being behind the attack and assuring that the United States would work to supply the markets.

Tehran ruled the charges "foolish" and "incomprehensible" by Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi, who hinted that they were intended to justify "future actions" against Iran . Iraq, for its part, refuted any connection with the attack after the Wall Street Journal said US and Saudi officials were studying the possibility that missiles could have been fired at oil installations from Iraq.

"Saudis do not want open conflict with Iran"

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose country is Iran's great regional rival, assured that Riyad was "willing and able" to respond to this "terrorist aggression".

But James Dorsey, a Middle East expert at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, has estimated unlikely direct retaliation: "The Saudis do not want an open conflict with Iran … They would like others are fighting for them, but others are reluctant. " The Riyadh Stock Exchange reacted to these attacks by falling by 3% when it opened, before taking back some of its losses.

In a telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and the Crown Prince, the White House condemned attacks on "vital infrastructure for the global economy". But the White House has said that Donald Trump still did not rule out the possibility of meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rohani despite accusations against Tehran.

The UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said he was "extremely concerned" by the attacks, also condemned by neighbors in Riyadh (the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait). Paris expressed its "solidarity" with Riyadh. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks and called on all parties to "hold back to prevent escalation," according to his spokesman.