This archive report was first published on 18 September 2019.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss possible retaliation after Washington said it had proof that attacks on Saudi oil installations originated in Iran.
According to a US official, the Trump administration has concluded that last weekend's attack involved cruise missiles from Iran and that evidence would be presented at the UN General Assembly next week.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ruled out negotiations with Washington 'at any level,' appearing to nix remaining hopes for a dramatic meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the United Nations next week.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, President Donald Trump said he too had cooled on what had always seemed to be a diplomatic longshot, stating, 'I never rule anything out, but I prefer not meeting him.'
Yemen's Iranian-backed Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for Saturday's oil installation attacks, which halved output from the petro-state, a close ally of Washington.
However, a senior US administration official cast doubt on that claim, saying that while the Huthis said they used 10 drones, one Saudi oil facility was hit 'at least 17 times,' and another twice by 'precision-guided munitions.'
The Huthis are at war with Saudi-backed forces in Yemen, turning the impoverished nation into a proxy battlefield for bitter regional rivals Tehran and Riyadh.
The increasingly complex conflict dovetails with the Trump administration's attempt to curb Iranian power through a 'maximum pressure' campaign of crippling economic sanctions.
Trump began that campaign after unilaterally pulling out of a 2015 international deal meant to reward Iran for allowing restrictions on its nuclear industry.
