Colonel Turki Al-Malki, Official Spokesman of the Ministry of Defence, has affirmed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ability to defend its infrastructure and to take all measures to defend the capabilities of the homeland, adding that the Kingdom deals with partners and allies in stabilising the security of the region.

During a press conference held in Riyadh (on Wednesday), Colonel Al-Malki presented information confirming the Iranian role in the sabotage act which targeted the most important site in the world as it is the most important source of oil production, saying that “since the beginning of the Iranian coup in the region, we have seen a remarkable growth in the Iranian aggression against the Kingdom. This aggression is revealed throughout history.”

“The recent attack against Saudi Aramco was not only against the Kingdom, but against the international community as a whole, and was a deliberate attempt to disrupt the global economy. This attack is against international law. Therefore, they should be held accountable. Iran’s aggression and support for terrorist groups in maritime trade routes pose a common threat to us. We call on the international community to recognise Iran’s sabotage practices in the region and its responsibility for the recent attacks on the world’s most important energy site for the international community,” Al-Malki said.

“I will focus on two main parts of our findings regarding the initial investigations with the partners. First, this attack was not carried out from Yemen as the Houthis claimed. Second, this attack is originated from the north and undoubtedly was supported by Iran. All the evidence, in our presentation before you, leaves no doubt about the Iranian role in the sabotage,” he affirmed.

Moreover, Al-Malki presented information on the Iranian crimes against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the use of its arms. “You will see in the slide more than 113 citizens lost their lives due to Iranian weapons provided for their arms in the region and you will watch damage to civilian objects and infrastructure in the Kingdom, he said, pointing out that the attack against Biqaiq and Khurais facilities is an extension of previous attacks that took place on May 14, 2019. You will also watch that the Iranian regime is attacking the civilian infrastructure and thus attacking the global economy and world trade routes.

“This attack is similar to what happened on May 14, 2019 against Afif and Dawadmi and is evident through our investigations. Our allies have shared us disclosing the type of the drone, an Iranian Delta type, similar to what was used in the last attack as you see it.”

Al-Maliki also presented some of the photos and images obtained from the surveillance systems in the site, which have proved the type of drones used in this attack and that its range of movement was from north to south and this is evidenced by surveillance cameras.

He presented a number of weapons used in the attack on Biqaiq, which was an Iranian-made aircraft from Delta Wong, saying: “This is a qualitative capability. These are some of the components that have been recovered from the site with analysis and study by experts in the Ministry of Defense. Sharing some of the information extracted from computers suggests that the industry and technology used in the drones are Iranian.”

As for the second attack on Khurais, the slide presented by Al-Malki shows the damage targeting the facility with cruise missiles, and this is evidenced by the accuracy of this attack using the capabilities of the cruise missiles.

“Through these components, the date of manufacturing is in 2019. We know that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has announced in last February that they owned the latest version of cruise missiles. This is the model of the missiles. All information and findings, that we have and retrieved from the site, refer to the quality developed by the Iranian regime to obtain these weapons for use against the infrastructure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These are some parts used in the attack with three missiles failing to make their targets. They were heading from north to south. We have retrieved all three missiles except one. We are working on them because they contain explosives,” Al-Malki said.

The Spokesman of the Defense Ministrysaid that “this is another cruise missile out of the three. We have information that the total number of drones and missiles used in the attack amounted to 25 drones and cruise missiles.”

“This attack was systematic to destroy the infrastructure. The drones and missiles used in the attack show a qualitative and similar capacity to what have been used in Afif and Dawadmi. So, they could not have been launched from Yemen as claimed by Iranian proxies. They are not the people of Yemen, but people who are loyal to the Iranian regime who take their orders from the Iranian regime and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,” he added. (Saudi Press Agency)

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