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.
The strikes resulted in major fires at two key oil facilities. Iran dismissed US claims it was behind the attacks as “unacceptable.”
In response, US President Donald Trump tweeted: “We’ll see?”
German weapons ban
Meanwhile a lawmaker in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party says Germany should reconsider its ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia.
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.
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Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
War: The ‘root cause’ of Yemen’s disasters
The UN has identified conflict as the “root cause” of Yemen’s crises. More than 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict 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.
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Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Fighting keeps food from the famished
The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in 60 percent of the country’s 28 million people being classified as “food insecure.” At least 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program. UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged the Security Council to pressure warring parties to allow aid in.
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Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Displacement: Converging crises
More than 2 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 more than 255,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.
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Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Cholera: A deadly epidemic
As of October 2017, the number of suspected cholera cases exceeded more than 750,000, and at least 2,135 people had died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen in ten months, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated. By October 2018, over 10,000 cases of cholera were being treated weekly.
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Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
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.
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Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
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 11 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,” the agency said in October.
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Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
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. But neither side appears ready to compromise.
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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.”
Read more: Iran-US tensions flare in the Persian Gulf: What’s at stake?
kw/rt (AP, dpa, Reuters)
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