Trump Says US Is 'Locked And Loaded' To Fight Saudi Oil Attacker

President Donald Trump claims the United States Armed Forces is “locked and loaded,” suggesting the latter is ready to attack Iran following devastating drone strikes on Saturday that crippled Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for launching the aerial strikes but without presenting proof despite the Yemeni Houthis, who are at war with Saudi Arabia, immediately claiming responsibility. Satellite photos showed extensive damage to the facilities from the surprisingly accurate aerial bombardment.

"Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy," tweeted Pompeo. "Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply. There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen."

Trump echoed the sentiments of his secretary of state.

“Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked,” tweeted Trump on Sunday. “There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!”

Oddly, Trump said the U.S. is waiting to hear from the Saudis as to who they believe is responsible for the attacks. Military analysts said Trump is saber rattling since an attack on Iran based on insufficient evidence will ignite a regional war that might later involve Israel.

First reports remain confusing but several Saudi sources report 19 aerial drone strikes throughout the strategic Abqaiq refinery located 205 miles northeast of Riyadh and the Khurais oil drilling field.

Abqaiq is the world’s largest oil processing facility and crude oil stabilization plant, and the kingdom’s second-largest oilfield. It has a processing capacity of more than 7 million barrels per day (bpd). On the other hand, Khurais is the second largest oil field Saudi Arabia. It has a production drilling capacity of 1.5 million bpd.

Yemeni Houthis quickly claimed responsibility for the attack. Houthi military spokesman Yahia Al-Sarie said the rebels used 10 aerial drones in a coordinated attack on both oil sites and allegedly received “intelligence” support from supporters inside Saudi Arabia.

Military analysts also said it’s unlikely only 10 drones were used in both strikes since the Saudis reported at least 19 explosions resulting from the detonation of these drones. The attacks were concentrated on the northwest of the Abqaiq refinery, suggesting the attacks might either have originated from Iran or Iraq.

Iran dismissed Trump’s and Pompeo’s allegations of its lead role in the attacks as “meaningless,” “not comprehensible” and “pointless.”

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said “Such useless accusations (referring to Pompeo’s) are meaningless and not comprehensible and are pointless.”

His statements were later echoed by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

“Having failed at ‘max pressure’, @SecPompeo’s turning to ‘max deceit’,” tweeted Zarif Sunday afternoon.

“Blaming Iran won’t end disaster. Accepting our April ’15 proposal to end war & begin talks may,” Zarif added.

Zarif called on the Trump administration to hold talks.