Speaking to the paper while flying to the UN General Assembly in New York, Macron said caution was needed in apportioning blame for the attack, which shook global oil markets.
“One must be very careful in attributing responsibility. There are clusters of clues, but this bombardment is a new military event that changes the region’s ecosystem.”
He made the remarks after UK has put the blame on Tehran for involvement in Yemen's retaliatory attacks that targeted Saudi Arabia’s major oil facilities on September 14.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday Britain believes Iran was responsible for the attacks and will work with the United States and European allies on a so-called joint response, Reuters reported.
Macron also acknowledged that “the chances of talks between Trump and Rouhani “had certainly not increased” since the strike.
The Sept. 14 attacks by Yemeni forces on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants, some of the kingdom’s biggest, caused raging fires and significant damage that halved the crude output of the world’s top oil exporter, by shutting down 5.7 million barrels per day of production.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, without presenting evidence, was also quick to blame Iran for the brazen attack. The claim drew ridicule from many social media users who compared Pompeo’s rushed conclusion to Washington’s indecision about the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Tehran has vehemently rejected accusations of involvement in the raids as "lies" and warned of "an all-out war" in the event of military strikes against the country.
ZZ/PR
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