United States President Donald Trump on Monday stated that it “it’s certainly looking” like Iran was responsible for the recent drone attacks that disrupted about half of Saudi Arabia’s oil capacity, but stressed that he “would like not to have war.” While Trump warned that the US could respond “with an attack many, many times larger,” the president added that he is “not looking at options right now.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had previously stated that despite Yemen’s Houthi rebels having taken responsibility for the attacks, Iran was the perpetrator, and that there was “no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.”
On Tuesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that “there will be no talks with the US at any level.” The remarks seemed to refer to recent speculations that Trump was planning to meet with Rouhani on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly this month in New York.
Read more: Trump says he does not want war after attack on Saudi oil facilities