Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Washington—The Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) held a press conference on September 30 citing information obtained from inside the Iranian regime detailing Tehran’s involvement in the September 14 attacks targeting Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil facility.
The NCRI emphasized in a report that Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with the mullahs’ President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif present, issued the order on July 31 to attack the Saudi oil facility.
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the main group member of the NCRI, has confirmed the information's validity, saying it was obtained through informants within the ’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the regime apparatus.
NCRI-US Press Conf on attack on Saudi oil installations:
Alireza Jafarzadeh: The regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei directly ordered the attack whose operation involved the highest levels of the IRGC… @WhiteHouse @SecPompeo @StateDept pic.twitter.com/fjSPbCqBdJ— NCRI-U.S. Rep Office (@NCRIUS) September 30, 2019
“The regime is counting on the inaction of the international community in its aggression,” according to the report. “As long as this regime exists, it will not cease its aggression.”
The NCRI report underscores that the attack was ordered by the regime’s highest levels, providing vigorous detail surrounding the launched missiles and drones. The NCRI report also indicates where the weapons were made.
The main points of the report also highlight when IRGC commanders were deployed to carry out the attack, adding the attack was coordinated from the Omidiyeh Base in southwest Iran, adding new forces replaced the suspected IRGC assailants. However, “there is no information on their orders yet,” according to the NCRI.
“The simultaneous missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities on September 14, 2019, emanated from inside Iran and was a blatant act of war that Khamenei, Rouhani, Zarif and other regime heads were responsible for in deciding, approving and implementing,” the report concludes.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Iran of leading attacks on Saudi oil plants that have cut the kingdom's output roughly in half, ruling out Yemeni involvement and denounced Tehran for engaging in false diplomacy.
US President Donald Trump has questioned Iran's claim that it had nothing to do with weekend attacks on a giant oil plant in Saudi Arabia that has cut off 5% of global crude output.
"[The] cruise missile and drone attack that hit two oil installations in Saudi Arabia came from Iranian soil," the Fox News Pentagon correspondent reported in September, citing US officials.
Britain, Germany, and France backed the United States and blamed Iran for the attack on the Saudi oil facilities. The Europeans issued a joint statement after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron met at the United Nations on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders.
"It is clear to us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack. There is no other plausible explanation. We support ongoing investigations to establish further details," the statement said.
