Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Pompeo Visits Saudi Arabia, Meets With Crown Prince in Wake of Oil Facility
Attacks

Edward Yeranian

   CAIRO - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Wednesday with Saudi
   Crown Prince Mohammedbin Salman inJeddah,insisting that Iran
   wasresponsible forthe attacksSaturdayon Saudi oil installations.

   Saudi TV showed Pompeo arriving at Jeddah airport latein theafternoon,
   before meeting withthecrownprince."Iran is behind the attacks and not
   Yemen's Houthis,"said the secretary, who wasdue to fly later in the day
   to the United Arab Emirates to meet UAE Crown Prince Mohammed Ben
   Zayed.

   Saudi Defense Ministry spokesman Col.Turkial-Maliki told journalists at
   a press conference earlier that 18 drones and seven cruise missiles
   hadhit the two Saudi oil facilities. Three othermissiles fell short of
   their targets, he said, and he displayed photos of those.

   "This attack did not originate from Yemen, despite Iran's best effort
   to make it appear so," al-Maliki said. "Their collaboration with their
   proxy in the region to create this false narrative is clear. Secondly,
   the attack was launched from the north and unquestionably sponsored by
   Iran."

   He stopped short of saying the missiles had been launched from Iranian
   territory, despite accusing Tehran of being behind the attacks.

.