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Russian President Putin Says No Evidence to Blame Iran for Attacks on Saudi Aramco
from Sputnik News:
Following the 14 September attacks on Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities, the US together with Saudi Arabia and several European countries accused Iran of being behind the attacks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani that there was no evidence to blame Iran for the recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities.
“We condemn this [attack], but we are against shifting the blame on Iran, as there is no evidence for that,” Putin said when asked how he views the attack on Saudi oil facilities.
The Russian president noted that those who orchestrated it did not reach their aims but merely negatively affected the global economy and consumers.
“[Russia] condemns such actions no matter who stands behind them. This was a destructive action that resulted in serious consequences for the global energy market. However, I doubt that those who planned, organized and carried out the attack reached their aims,” Putin said.
Speaking further, the Russian president said that due to US sanctions, Iran wasn’t able to realise its opportunities, adding that the sanctions were harmful to the global economy and energy industry.
“Iran has an enormous potential, is a very large player on the global energy market, but, unfortunately, due to the sanctions policy of the US administration, Iran cannot fully realize its opportunities and, in my opinion, it is very harmful to the world economy in general, for the global energy industry, because it does not provide an opportunity to ensure stable operation of the sector,” Putin said.
At the same time, Mr Putin noted that Iran has a desire to normalise relations with Washington, though Tehran believes that it does not have equal conditions for dialogue with the United States.
“Iran believes that it does not have equal conditions for this dialogue under sanction pressure. But it seems to me that Iran certainly has a desire to normalize the situation, including normalizing relations with the United States,” Putin said, explaining why US and Iranian leaders did not meet the recent UN General Assembly in New York.
When asked whether Rouhani would be ready to meet with Trump, Putin said it was better to ask them.
“Our position is that dialogue is always better than any confrontation,” he added.
The president also cited meetings of Trump with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a striking example of a strong-willed and very balanced, absolutely pragmatic decision aimed at normalizing tense relations between the two states.
On 14 September, Saudi Aramco had to close two of its facilities after they were hit by drones and then caught fire. The incident led to a cut in oil production totalling 5.7 million barrels per day — about half of Saudi Arabia’s daily oil output.
Following the attack, a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia itself, the US, the UK and Germany blamed the attack on Iran.
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