UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th December, 2019) Evidence collected by the United Nations Secretariat from the attacked Saudi Arabia Aramco oil facilities does not support the claim that Houthi movement was responsible for the attacks, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said.
"The Secretariat - at the invitation of Saudi authorities - examined the debris of the weapons systems used in the 14 September attack on the Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Abgaiq and Khurais," DiCarlo told the UN Security Council on Thursday. "Though the Houthis claimed responsibility for the 14 September attacks on Abgqaiq and Khurais, their announcements on the number and type of weapons systems used do not correspond to the information that we have seen."
DiCarlo noted that the Houthis claimed they used ten drones, but impact points examined by the UN experts showed that a larger number and different types of weapons were used in the attacks.
DiCarlo also said the observation correlates with the information provided by Saudi authorities, who indicated that attacks involved at least 18 drones as well as cruise missiles,
"United States has shared additional information with us regarding the debris of one of the UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles], which indicated that this UAV traversed a location about 200km northwest of Abgaiq shortly before the strike," DiCarlo added.
On September 14, two major Aramco oil facilities were attacked, resulting in a temporary sharp decrease in Saudi Arabia's output. While Yemen's Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the United States has put the blame on Iran as have France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Iran has denied all claims of involvement in the attacks.
Following the attacks, a team of UN experts traveled to Saudi Arabia to investigate the incident.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier in the week in a report obtained by Sputnik that he cannot independently confirm that attacks on Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil facilities were of Iranian origin.
