Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a Twitter post addressing the 3 European member states of the nuclear deal, urged the trio to undertake a path independent from the US, calling upon them to stop repeating baseless anti-Tehran claims of Washington which are in violation of the nuclear deal. The top diplomat said that the paralysis of the trio—the UK, France and Germany— “in fulfilling their obligations without US permission has been clear since May 2018”.
“Solution to this deficiency: mustering will to forge independent path—not parroting absurd US claims and requests INCONSISTENT with the JCPOA,” he added, referring to the recent position undertaken by the trio.
The tweet came after the trio’s Monday statement in which Iran was blamed for the recent attack on Saudi oil facilities claimed by Yemen's Ansarullah movement.
In a joint statement earlier in the day, the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom strongly condemned the September 14 attacks on oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais, and pinned the blame on Tehran.
"It is clear to us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack. There is no other plausible explanation," the statement read.
"We support ongoing investigations to establish further details," it added.
A few hours before releasing the statement, Macron had warned that "one must be very careful in attributing responsibility" for the Aramco attacks.
"There are clusters of clues, but this bombardment is a new military event that changes the region's ecosystem," he said, stressing that caution was needed in apportioning blame for the attack.
The statement came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leveled the same accusations against Iran while speaking to reporters on the plane while flying to New York to attend the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Johnson said his country believes Iran was behind the attacks on the Saudi oil facilities and added that London would work with the United States and European allies to de-escalate tensions in the Persian Gulf.
Later in the day, the Iranian foreign ministry blasted Johnson for his allegations against Tehran, stressing the need for London to stop selling deadly weapons to Riyadh.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi strongly dismissed Johnson's allegations.
"The British government should stop selling deadly arms to Saudi Arabia, as asked by many people in the world, instead of fruitless attempts against the Islamic Republic of Iran, to free itself from the accusation of committing war crimes against the Yemeni people," he said.
Yemen’s Ansarullah movement announced on September 14 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.
Abqaiq, 60 km (37 miles) Southwest of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, contains the world’s largest oil processing plant. Khurais, 190 km further Southwest, contains the country’s second largest oilfield.
Spokesman of Yemen's Armed Forces Yahya Saree in a press conference displayed images taken by the Yemeni drones before and after the attacks against the Saudi Aramco oil facilities.
During the press conference in Sana'a last Wednesday, General Saree highlighted that aerial photographs, taken by Yemeni reconnaissance drones in the wake and aftermath of the operation, show the extent of damage caused on the two major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, stating that it was launched following a careful intelligence collection process.
“The destruction of the targeted facilities is far greater than what has been announced. Americans sought to publish fabricated pictures of the operation aftermaths as part of attempts to downplay it. The blaze lasted for several hours and authorities in the state of aggression (Saudi Arabia) could not contain it,” the high-ranking Yemeni military official pointed out.
Saree went on to say that various kinds of combat drones were used in the Second Deterrent Balance Operation, noting that they were launched from three different locations according to their flight endurance and designated targets.
He underlined that the third generation of domestically-designed and -manufactured Qasef (Striker) combat drones, long-endurance Sammad-3 (Invincible-3) drones – which have an operational range of 1,500 kilometers to 1,700 kilometers and newly-developed drones equipped with jet engines.
Saree said each of the new drones can carry four precision-guided bombs with fissionable heads every time, and can monitor and hit their targets from several angles.
“Other aircraft were also used so the main combat drones could hide in their shadow without being detected, and signal jamming devices effectively disabled the enemy’s air missile defense systems,” he said.
General Saree lauded the highly disruptive drone attacks on Saudi Aramco petroleum and gas processing plants at Abqaiq and Khurais in the kingdom's Eastern Province as an outstanding example of the military prowess of Yemeni army troops and allied fighters from Popular Committees.
“Our forces have reached a high level of efficiency and ability. They can manufacture various types of unmanned aerial vehicles in record time. The Second Deterrent Balance Operation, which targeted Saudi oil installations, is a perfect example of the capabilities of our forces in terms of planning and implementation,” he said.
“We assure the world that the free and steadfast Yemeni nation will not hesitate to respond to the (Saudi-led) coalition of aggression, and will use its legitimate right to target all targets deep inside the countries involved,” General Saree said.
The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces then cautioned the United Arab Emirates against its atrocious military campaign in Yemen, emphasizing that Emirati officials will rue the day if they continue their aggression.
“Simply one operation can inflict heavy losses upon them and strike them with a pang of regret. We hereby announce that dozens of targets in the UAE, namely in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, are within our range. We urge the aggressors to stay away from Yemen if security and safety of their infrastructure and glass towers matter to them,” Saree concluded.
The Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman's remarks and images taken by the country's drones before and after the attacks of September 14 exonerated Iran of allegations by the US and Saudi officials.
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