Could this missile wreckage prove Iran was behind oil plant attack? Rocket COULD NOT have been launched from Yemen, experts claim, as Saudi Arabia warns it will ‘forcefully respond’ to strike
Saudi Arabian oil supply blown up in what Yemen’s Houthis called a drone attack
Washington insists attack involved a mixture of Iranian-made drones and missiles and there is ‘no evidence’ that it came from Yemen
Experts have begun analysing an image from Saudi social media which shows the wreck of a missile in the middle of the desert which could be linked
Analysts say the missile appears to be a Quds-1, which would rule out Yemen as a launch site and strongly suggest Iraq, Iran or a boat in the Persian Gulf
Saudi has also blamed Iran, and says it is ready to ‘forcefully respond’ to attack
By CHRIS PLEASANCE
DAILYMAIL.COM
17 September 2019
An image that shows the blown-up wreckage of a missile, allegedly in a desert in Saudi Arabia, is being studied by weapons experts after the kingdom’s oil supplies were attacked at the weekend leading to suggestions it could be linked and could rule out Yemen as the launch site.
Analysts said it is not possible to identify where or when precisely the image was taken, but that it appears to be new and does not appear to be edited.
Fabian Hinz, of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, writes that the weapon shown is likely a short-range Quds-1 cruise missile, meaning it is unlikely to have been fired from Yemen and is far more likely to have come from Iraq or Iran.
Officially, Iran-backed Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen have claimed responsibility for blasts at the Abqiaiq refinery and Khurais oil field which knocked out 5 per cent of the world’s oil supply, saying they used drones.
But Washington disputes this – with officials briefing journalists that the attack used a mixture of Iranian-made drones and missiles, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying ‘there is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen’.
Saudi Arabia has also said preliminary investigations indicate Iran was responsible and said it is ready to ‘forcefully respond’, though neither side has provided concrete evidence. Iran denies involvement.
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