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IRAN-SAUDI-POLITICS
UN says cannot confirm Iran behind Saudi oil attack
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Dec 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The UN has been
unable to confirm Iranian involvement in a dramatic attack on oil facilities
in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, secretary-general Antonio Guterres said
Tuesday.
Drones and cruise missiles were used in the September bombardment, which
knocked out half of the kingdom’s crude production and fueled a record surge
in prices.
Saudi officials, the United States and several European countries accused
Iran of responsibility for the attack, which Tehran has denied.
UN investigators had been given access to debris of the weapons used in the
attack, Guterres said in a six-monthly report to the Security Council on
Iran’s nuclear program, seen by AFP on Tuesday.
But the investigation was not able to “independently corroborate that the
cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles used in these attacks are of
Iranian origin,” the report said.
An investigation into the attack is continuing and will be submitted to the
Security Council when finished, Guterres said.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1411 hrs