Saudi king confirms ability to deal with oil attacks

RIYADH

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz stressed Tuesday his country’s ability to handle the effects of "cowardly" attacks which targeted two oil facilities of state-owned Aramco oil company.

His remarks, in which he expressed his appreciation for the international condemnations, came during a Cabinet meeting on the drone attacks Saturday.

These attacks "didn't only target vital installations of the kingdom, but also target global oil supplies and threaten the stability of the global economy," he said.

Saudi Arabia temporarily cut oil production from the two oil facilities, which corresponds to nearly 2 million barrels per day.

The U.S. accused Iran of directing the attacks while Saudi Arabia awaits the results of the investigation.

Since 2015, a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Thousands of Yemenis were killed and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

Houthis, whose mid and long-range ballistic missiles are usually intercepted by Saudi air defense systems, have recently been used to target certain strategic parts of Saudi Arabia with armed drones.

Several countries around the world condemned the attack including the U.S., the U.K. and Turkey.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara