Saudi Arabia displays recovered drones and missiles

Saudi Arabia displayed Iranian drones and cruise missiles that it said were used in an attack against Aramco facilities at the weekend.

The attacks were “unquestionably” sponsored by Iran but investigations are still underway to pinpoint the exact launch location, defense ministry spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said at a news conference in Riyadh.

However he said that the strikes came from the north and definitely not come from Yemen, where Houthi militants claimed they had been launched from on Saturday.

He said a total of 25 drones and missiles were launched at Khurais oil field and Abqaiq processing plant.

They included Iranian Delta Wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and “Ya Ali” cruise missiles. The same missiles have been used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, he said.

“The attack was launched from the north and unquestionably sponsored by Iran,” he told a news conference. “The evidence… that you have seen in front of you, makes this undeniable.”

Earlier, the Saudi ambassador to London said Iran was almost certainly behind the attacks on an oil processing facility and an oil field that cut the Kingdom’s oil production by half.

The US has blamed Iran for the attacks and officials told Reuters that they originated in south-western Iran and involved cruise missiles and drones.

Iran-backed Houthi militants initially claimed they had carried out the attack from Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is part of a coalition supporting government forces fighting the militia.