Published 15:40 IST, September 21st 2019
'Iran will destroy Saudi Arabia' in any war, warns Hezbollah leader
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group called Saudi Arabia to stop its bloody war in Yemen or else face more attacks.
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Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Saudi Arabia against wagering a war against Iran, saying that the Kingdom would be 'destroyed.'
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group called Saudi Arabia to stop its bloody war in Yemen or else face more attacks on its soil. He said that Saudi Arabia should think well, as a "war with Iran will mean their destruction." He demanded UAE and Saudi Arabia to not incite war, saying that their 'It will destroy you. Your houses are made of glass.'
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"Continuing the war against Yemen with no solution is pointless. You are starting to pay the price," Nasrallah said. "One strike knocked out half the oil production, and another strike, you can imagine what it will do," he said, suggesting the Aramco attack.
He asserted that buying additional air defense systems from the US wouldn't help Saudi Arabia defend itself, adding that Yemen's Houthi rebels have sophisticated missiles and drones. Hezbollah is an armed group that was set up by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1983.
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Aramco attack
The United States and staunch ally Saudi Arabia claim that the attacks were orchestrated by Iran backed Yemen Houthi group for the attack on Saudi Arabia's Aramco Plant on September 14. Saudi Arabia even called the United Nations and other countries to probe the attack.
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According to a report, an anonymous US official had stated that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself approved the attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facility. The Kingdom officials too asserted that they know who sponsored the attack, hinting as Tehran, but saying that the strike came from the north direction on the world's largest oil plant. The Aramco attack made a strong impact on the global energy markets with a halt in 5% of the world's total oil supply.
While Riyadh called it an attack on the 'international community', Japan said that they are yet to see 'concrete evidence' against Iran over the attack. The leadership in France said that they would send its own investigators to probe the matter.
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Iran-US tensions
Relationship between Tehran and Washington heightened after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the iconic 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Subsequently, Trump imposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran, designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organisation and even imposed sanctions on Iran's Foreign Minister. Both the countries and their allies even had a skirmish in the Strait of Hormuz a few months ago.
The possibility of a full-fledged war between the US and allies stands as a wall of threat in the face of the global community. In an attempt to diffuse the tensions Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and France President Emmanuel Macron even attempted to bring both the leaders of US and Iran to the table to hold a dialogue. However, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spurned the possibility to hold any talks with his US counterpart.
Now, the Pentagon has announced that more weapons and US troops will be deployed in the Middle East, which will be defensive in nature. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister also warned the US and Saudi Arabia that any attack on Iran will spark an 'all-out war.' After persistent tensions, Iran and the US will face each other at the United Nations General Assembly in New York scheduled on September 27.
(With PTI inputs)
12:13 IST, September 21st 2019