WASHINGTON, September 19. /TASS/. Missile defense systems all over the world sometimes fail to demonstrate the intended result, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said, when asked by a reporter why Saudi troops, armed with US-made Patriot missile defense systems, failed to repel the recent drone attack on the kingdom’s oil facilities.
"We’ve seen air defense systems all around the world have mixed success," the Department of State press service quoted Pompeo as saying upon his arrival to Jeddah. "Some of the finest in the world don’t always pick things up. We want to work to make sure that infrastructure and resources are put in place such that attacks like this would be less successful than this one appears to have been."
The US top diplomat lashed out at rumors that the attack on Saudi Aramco oil facilities was a result of US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program.
The facilities of the Saudi Aramco oil company in the east of Saudi Arabia were attacked by ten drones in the early hours of September 14. In particular, the world’s biggest oil refinery near the city of Abqaiq and a refinery near Khurais, where Saudi’s second largest oil field is located, came under the attack. The attacks sparked fires at 13 facilities.
Yemeni Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah movement claimed responsibility for the incident. Washington claimed that the Iranian government had played a role in the attack. Tehran strongly dismissed those accusations as baseless.