Iran's Rouhani says Yemenis attacked Saudi oil sites as 'warning'

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday Yemenis targeted Saudi oil facilities as a "warning" about a possible wider war in response to the kingdom's US-backed intervention in their conflict-ravaged country.

An image showing a gas flame behind pipelines in the desert at Khurais oil field, about 160 km from Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, June 23, 2008 (reissued May 14, 2019). Reports on May 14, 2019 state Saudi Aramco said some of its oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia's eastern province has been attacked, including one of its petroleum pumping stations that was targeted by apparent armed drone attack. [Photo: EPA via IC/Ali Haider]

"The Yemenis... haven't hit a hospital, they haven't hit a school, they haven't hit Sanaa bazaar. They just hit an industrial center... to warn you," Rouhani said after a cabinet meeting.

"Learn lessons from this warning and consider that there could be a war in the region," he said, in a likely address to the rulers of Saudi Arabia which has spent billions of dollars on US weapons.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strikes but a US official said Tuesday that the administration of President Donald Trump concluded the attacks involved cruise missiles from Iran.

Saudi Arabia, which has been bogged down in a five-year war in Yemen, has said the weapons used in the attacks were Iranian-made but has not directly blamed its regional arch-rival.

Tehran has repeatedly denied accusations from Washington and Riyadh that it arms the Huthis.

Saturday's attacks on Saudi energy giant Aramco's Abqaiq processing plant and Khurais oil field halved the kingdom's oil output.