VP Pence Says US Ready to Defend Its Interests and Regional Allies After Saudi Aramco Attack
SputnikNews.com
17.09.2019
Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump accused Iran of being responsible for Saturday’s attacks on two major Saudi oil facilities. Tehran has dismissed the accusations. The Houthis, a Yemeni militia group against which Riyadh and its allies have waged a four year war, claimed responsibility and promised more attacks.
The US was prepared to respond to the “Iranian” attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields, US Vice President Mike Pence has announced.
“In the wake of this weekend’s unprovoked attack on several oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, I promise you, we’re ready,” Pence said, speaking at a Heritage Foundation event in Washington, DC on Tuesday.
“As the president said, we don’t want war with anybody. But the United States is prepared, we’re locked and loaded, and we’re ready to defend our interests and our allies in the region. Make no mistake about it,” Pence said.
Reiterating Trump’s claim Monday that it’s ‘looking like’ Iran was responsible for the attacks, Pence said the US intelligence community, “at this very hour, is working diligently to review the evidence,” with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heading to Riyadh “to discuss our response.”
Praising on the Trump administration’s recent success in securing $738 billion for the US military, the vice president said that “To provide for the common defence is the first object of the federal government.”
“Our active duty personnel are now the best equipped, best trained and most technologically advanced fighting force in the history of the world,” he added.
