The Aramco oil facility in Jeddah was attacked on Friday after a Houthi military spokesperson said the group was planning to announce an operation within Saudi Arabia, according to CNBC and Reuters.
After today’s attack, Brent crude rose 0.7 percent to $119.92 a barrel.
Jason Brodsky, the policy director at United Against a Nuclear Iran, tweeted a video of the facility engulfed in flames:
#BREAKING: Initial reports and video circulating about an #Iran-backed #Houthis attack on a Saudi Aramco facility in Jeddah. #OOTT pic.twitter.com/7TB56eycQq
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) March 25, 2022
The Saudis were also attacked by Houthis last weekend, with missiles and drones hitting an Aramco fuel depot, a natural-gas plant, and four other sites. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been the target of frequent attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
As oil prices remain high due to the conflict in Ukraine, the Biden administration has been begging the Saudis and Emiratis to pump more. They’ve turned down his calls due to U.S. negotiators’ weak approach to Iran and the IRGC throughout ongoing nuclear negotiations. The latest in a long line of shameful U.S. concessions is an offer to lift the IRGC’s foreign-terrorist-organization label in return for Iran’s public commitment to regional de-escalation. This kind of pinky-promise diplomacy is yet another weak concession to Iran as Biden desperately scrambles for a deal.
Should a deal go through, Iran will be flooded with billions in sanctions relief and will reap massive economic profits when it puts its oil back on the market. Iran’s terroristic proxies and partners — including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — would be flooded with cash, undoubtedly bringing more instability to the region.