Donald Trump warns he may do ‘dastardly things’ to Iran over attack on Saudi Arabia
US President Donald Trump has issued an ominous warning to Iran over attacks on Saudi oil sites, as missile and drone wreckage from the raids was put on display.
National
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US President Donald Trump has warned there was “plenty of time to do some dastardly things” to Iran in retaliation for an attack on Saudi Arabia.
Asked about criticism from Republican Lindsey Graham, who had called the president’s cancellation of a strike after Iran downed a US drone a sign of weakness, the president said it was actually the opposite before issuing his ominous warning.
“Actually I think it’s a sign of strength. We have the strongest military in the world now. I think it’s a great sign of strength. There’s plenty of time to do some dastardly things,” Mr Trump said, according to the New York Post.
It comes as Saudi Arabia put on display for media broken and burnt drones and pieces of one cruise missile allegedly collected from the attacks.
Saudi military spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki made a point not to directly accuse Iran of firing the weapons or launching them from inside of Iranian territory.
The kingdom has sought help from international investigators and the United Nations, both lengthening the probe and internationalising its conclusions.
“The attack was launched from the north and was unquestionably sponsored by Iran,” al-Malki told journalists.
Al-Malki described the drones as “delta wing” models, which looked like large triangles.
The cruise missile, which al-Malki described as a “Ya Ali” type, had a small jet engine attached to it.
Eighteen drones and seven cruise missiles were launched in the assault, Al-Malki said, with three missiles failing to make their targets.
He said the cruise missiles had a range of 700km, meaning they could not have been fired from inside Yemen.
He played surveillance video he said showed a drone coming in from the north.
Satellite images released earlier by the US showed damage largely on the north-facing sides of structures at the sites.
“This is the kind of weapon the Iranian regimen and the Iranian IRGC are using against the civilian object and facilities infrastructure,” he said, using an acronym for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
He added: “This attack did not originate from Yemen, despite Iran’s best effort to make it appear so.”
But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who landed in Saudi Arabia shortly after the news conference, took a harder line, telling reporters: “The Saudis were the nation that was attacked. It was on their soil. It was an act of war against them directly.”
Iran denies being involved in the assault claimed by Yemeni rebels and has threatened the US that it will retaliate “immediately” if Tehran is targeted over the attack.
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Australian unleaded petrol prices could blow out to $1.76 per litre due to fears of a new conflict in the Middle East, but some sneaky fuel stations are already unfairly hitting drivers with the forecasted price.
The attack on the world’s largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia, knocking out about half of its global supply, is seeing a flow on effect here with Australia pushing to tap the tightly guarded fuel reserves of the United States.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the government’s liquid fuel security review, which flagged fuel stock shortfalls, was progressing as would talks to access US fuel reserves.
“Negotiations with the US are still progressing and are not affected by the incident in Saudi Arabia,” he told News Corp Australia.
The commitment came as the United States revealed the Saudi attack originated from southern-western Iran as the White House ramped up talk of retaliation.
The attack has seen oil prices surge but the Saudi’s sought to reassure the market by announcing lost oil production would resume by the end of this month.
However their reassurance hasn’t stopped panic at the pumps here, with prices in Melbourne’s Brunswick East and Windsor already hitting $1.76 on Wednesday.
FuelTrac General Manager Geoff Trotter said the prices spiked from $1.31 on Tuesday despite the unleaded petrol (ULP) wholesale price only rising 1.6 cents per litre so far.
“So far only +1.6cpl (of the expected 9cpl) has come through into the Terminal Gate price, (eg from 128.4cpl to 130cpl),” he said.
“This also means that they get an immediate stock profit on all their underground fuel that was bought earlier at 128.4cpl, if they sell at 171.9cpl they make 43.5cpl gross, what a windfall,” he said.
Mr Trotter estimated the max price for ULP at Australian pumps in metro cities would be $1.76 if the wholesale price rose by the projected 9cpl.
Pump panic has yet to hit the other Australian cities with Brisbane prices sitting under $1.58, Sydney under $1.64 and Adelaide under $1.32.
Mr Trotter said Mr Taylor’s prediction of a minimal impact has already been proven wrong.
“This is before the full effect flows through later this week, ” he said.
Prices are likely to stay inflated as the world waits to see what the US will do militarily.
Iran’s allies in Yemen’s civil war, the Houthi militia, claimed responsibility for the attacks in its five-year conflict with the Saudis but the US claim it is in fact Iran that launched the strike.
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was headed to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to discuss possible responses to the attack.
Vice President Mike Pence echoed President Trump’s words to declare American forces were “locked and loaded” for war if needed.
“As the president said yesterday, it’s ‘certainly looking like’ Iran was behind these attacks,” Pence said.
“And our intelligence community at this very hour is working diligently to review the evidence.”
The analysts’ task was to connect the dots provided by satellite data and other highly classified intelligence with physical evidence from the scene of the attack, which American-provided Saudi defences had failed to stop. It was confirmed US military experts were already in Saudi Arabia working on the forensic analysis. It plans to provide the UN General Assembly next week with its findings.
Whatever happens next there could also affect Australia.
As of December 2018, Australia holds 18, 22 and 23 days of consumption cover for petrol, diesel and jet fuel respectively. Consumption cover is the most appropriate measure of Australia’s fuel stock, as it counts stocks based on how many days they will last under normal demand.
Australia is a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA) which demands stockholding obligations of 90 days. Australia became non-compliant with that obligation since 2012 although fudges the books contrary to IEA methodology by counting fuel stocks that may be on ship on their way to Australia at any given time.
Regardless, the Federal Government does not believe it can become compliant before 2026.
Market trading group OANDA said possible retaliation by the US against Iran remained a concern for world markets but the burden of proof required to prove who was behind the attack may be unachievable to warrant conflict.
“A more likely course of action is a ramping up of sanctions on Iran,” senior Asia Pacific market analyst Jeffrey Halley said.
“The chances of a military response by either Saudi Arabia or the US are low. What is clear is that Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure is more vulnerable than thought, and a risk premium will be built into oil prices going forward.”
But the attack would none-the-less result in higher oil prices for the foreseeable future since Saudi Arabia is known as a “swing producer”, a country that can change its crude oil output to meet market demands to keep supply and demand roughly in balance.
Oil prices rose nearly 15 per cent with Brent crude logging its biggest jump in over 30 years amid record trading volumes, after the attack although sat at US$65, down from US$67.65, after the Saudi pledge to go back online by month’s end.
On Monday Trump said: “You know, I’m not looking to get into new conflict but sometimes you have to.”
One of his loyalists however went further and branded the incident an act of war that demanded decisive action.
Senator Lindsey Graham said it was “clear” Iran was involved in the sophisticated Saudi attack.
“This is literally an act of war and the goal should be to restore deterrence against Iranian aggression which has clearly been lost,” Mr Graham said.
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