Erdogan Backs Iran amid Blame Game on Saudi Oil Attacks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged caution over blaming Iran for the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, adding that it would not be right to blame the Islamic Republic for the strikes.
"I don't think it would be the right thing to blame Iran," Erdogan said in an interview with Fox News broadcast on Wednesday, adding that the attacks came from several parts of Yemen.
"If we just place the entire burden on Iran, it won't be the right way to go. Because the evidence available does not necessarily point to that fact," Erdogan said, according to a translation of his comments broadcast by Fox.
Recently, the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in a joint statement condemned the attacks on oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais, and pinned the blame on Tehran.
In response, Iran’s foreign minister criticized statement, calling on them to stop “parroting absurd US claims”.
The Yemeni forces on September 14 launched drone attacks on two plants at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry, including the world's biggest petroleum processing facility.
The attacks came in retaliation for the Saudi-led coalition’s continued aggression on the Arabian Peninsula country.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
