A confidential United Nations report rebutted claims from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels that they were responsible for a missile attack on two Saudi oil facilities in September, Reuters reported Jan. 8. The report found that the missiles and drones used in the attack on Abqaiq and Khurais in northern Saudi Arabia did not “have a sufficient range to have been launched from Yemeni territory under the control of the Houthis.”
Why it matters: Although Tehran has officially denied any involvement in the attack, the UN report bolsters US and European claims that Iran launched the attacks. The report comes as tensions between Iran and the United States have reached a boiling point following President Donald Trump’s assassination of Quds force commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani. While the majority of Democratic lawmakers — and even some Republicans — have pushed back against the Trump administration’s claims that Soleimani was planning an imminent attack, none have disputed the White House’s claim that Iran was behind last year’s Saudi oil facility attacks.
