UK says Iran responsible for attack on Saudi oil facilities

Britain has concluded that Iran was responsible for attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday. He said the U.K. would consider taking part in a U.S.-led military effort to bolster the Gulf kingdom's defenses.

But the Conservative prime minister also said the U.K. would work with allies to "de-escalate" Middle East tensions that have soared since the Sept. 14 attack on the world's largest oil processor and an oil field.

Britain had previously held back from attributing blame for the drone and missile attack. Saudi Arabia and the United States say Iran was responsible. Johnson told reporters flying with him late Sunday to New York for the U.N. General Assembly that now "the U.K. is attributing responsibility with a very high degree of probability to Iran" for the attack by drones and cruise missiles.

"We will be working with our American friends and our European friends to construct a response that tries to de-escalate tensions in the Gulf region," Johnson said.

Johnson said he would meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at this week's high-level U.N. gathering. Johnson is also due to hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

He said he wanted Britain to be "a bridge between our European friends and the Americans when it comes to the crisis in the Gulf."
A U.K. official told The Associated Press that a claim of responsibility for the attacks by Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen was "implausible." He said remnants of Iran-made cruise missiles were found at the attack site, and "the sophistication points very, very firmly to Iranian involvement."