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Attacks on Saudi Arabia’s energy facilities spark global condemnation

March 08, 2021

RIYADH, March 08 (INP): The attacks on oil facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia drew regional and internal condemnation on Sunday.

The Kingdom said the drone attack on Ras Tanura Port and attempted missile strike on an Aramco residential area had targeted global energy supplies. Ras Tanura is one of the world’s largest oil shipping ports and the Aramco complex in Dhahran houses workers and their families from all over the world.

According to Arab News that the GCC Secretary-General Nayef Al-Hajraf said: “These terrorist attacks do not only target the security and economic capabilities of the Kingdom, but also the nerve center of the global economy and oil supplies, as well as global energy security.”

He said the Gulf states stand with the Kingdom, adding that the bloc supports Saudi Arabia in all necessary measures it takes to protect its national capabilities

Bahrain also strongly condemned the attacks, saying they were a violation of international laws.

In Washington, Bill Hagerty, a Republican senator who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said President Joe Biden’s approach to Iran had emboldened the regime to launch more attacks through it proxies on Saudi Arabia.

“Yet another missile strike against Saudi Arabia today with all the hallmarks of an Iranian-backed attack,” he said. “It seems (President) Biden’s desire to give Tehran sanctions relief is emboldening the mullahs to escalate their aggression against us and our allies.”

The US embassy in Saudi Arabia also condemned on Monday the “heinous Houthi attacks on civilians and vital infrastructure,” which the embassy said demonstrates the Houthis' lack of respect for human life, and their interest in the pursuit of peace.

Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh expressed solidarity with the Kingdom.

He also called on the international community to put an end to this terrorism that threatens international security and stability.

The President of the Arab Parliament Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi called on the international community to put an end to these attacks that are aimed at threatening the security and stability of the region, and affecting the global economy. Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen also said the attack posed a threat to the lives of thousands of Saudi Aramco employees and their families of various nationalities, state news agency SPA reported. Qatar’s oil ministry said targeting vital facilities is an act of sabotage that violates international laws and would affect the security and stability of energy supplies in the world. In Egypt, the foreign ministry said it supports the Kingdom and the measures it takes to address these cowardly, sabotage, and aggressive acts. The Palestinian presidency also condemned the attack, saying that Houthi extremist actions against Saudi Arabia are a flagrant violation of international law. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that these extremist crimes harm the Kingdom’s security, undermines the stability of the region, and shows an insistence on continuing the war as well as ignoring international efforts to reach a political solution.

The Secretary General of International Energy Forum, the world’s largest international organization of energy ministers, Joseph McMonigle, also echoed global condemnation of the attempted attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura Port and other energy infrastructures.

“Any attack on such facilities anywhere in the world is an attack on energy consumers everywhere,” he said.