Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami strongly dismissed US allegations about Iran's involvement in the Saturday drone attacks by the Yemenis on Saudi oil facilities. "The issue is very clear. A clash has occurred between the two countries. One side of the clash is the Yemenis who have clearly declared that they have done the job," General Hatami told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.
He added that Yemen which has been under intensive attacks for several years and sustained many losses and damages due to the Saudi-led coalition's siege has launched the attacks against the Saudi installations, and reminded that the Yemenis had conducted similar long-distance attacks in the past, including an offensive carried out on an airport in the UAE two years ago.
On Monday, the Iranian foreign ministry had also strongly rejected US officials' allegations that Tehran was involved in the Saturday drone attacks against the Saudi oil installations.
"Yemen has been entangled in war for 5 years and Iran has naturally clearly announced that it supports the Yemeni people and their rights, but blaming Iran for such measures is in line with (the American officials' policy of) maximum lie," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi told reporters in a press conference in Tehran on Monday, commenting on the US officials' claims that the attack on the Saudi oil facilities had been carried out with Iran's assistance.
"Such remarks are essentially baseless and untrue," he added.
His comments came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed the Saturday drone attacks by the Yemeni army against Saudi Arabia's oil installations on Iran claiming on Twitter that there was “no evidence the attacks came from Yemen”.
After his remarks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blasted Pompeo for allegations against Tehran, saying that Washington which had failed in pressures against Iran was now resorting to lies and deceits.
"Having failed at max pressure, Pompeo's turning to max deceit," Zarif wrote on his twitter page on Sunday.
"The US and its clients are stuck in Yemen because of illusion that weapon superiority will lead to military victory," Zarif added.
He noted that blaming Iran won't end disaster, saying that the US and the Saudi-led coalition should accept Iran's "April 15 proposal to end war and begin talks" to resolve the crisis in Yemen politically.
Yemen’s Ansarullah movement announced on Saturday that its drones had successfully attacked two oil plants in the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, stressing that the attacks were a firm response to Riyadh’s relentless bombardment of Yemen.
The recent operation came just weeks after Yemeni forces conducted attacks on an oil field affiliated to Saudi Aramco in the East of the kingdom in retaliation for Riyadh’s war on their country. Oil facilities at Shaybah, which has the largest strategic oil reserve in Saudi Arabia near the UAE border and operated by state-oil company Saudi Aramco, were targeted by 10 Yemeni drones.