Saudi calls for the US to attack Iran are built at least in part on the idea of getting revenge for Yemen’s Shi’ite Houthi movement attacking Saudi oil pumping stations.
The Saudis have claimed Iran “ordered” the attack, but Iranian
officials say there was no such order, and that they had nothing to do
with it.
That’s entirely probable. Since the Saudi invasion of Yemen, the Houthis
have retaliated whenever possible Saudi officials have always
overstated Houthi ties to Iran, trying to justify the invasion, but in
reality, there is limited evidence Iran has more than nominal ties to
the Houthis, and it’s unlikely they could just “order” attacks like
this.
This all comes with the US threatening to attack Iran as it is, and
while President Trump is still calling for talks, the focus seems to be
on threats, not diplomacy. Iranian officials presented the Trump offers for talks as “dishonest,” saying that the offer comes with the US holding a gun at Iran.
As all of this is happening, the US is also threatening sanctions after an Iranian tanker unloaded fuel
oil to the Chinese city of Zhoushan. The US claims Iran is not allowed
to sell oil to anyone, though neither Iran nor China recognize the idea
that the US has any say over it.
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