Increase the tension in the Gulf

* Saudi shuts main oil pipeline after Huthi drone attacks

* Attack follows sabotage of Saudi oil tankers off UAE coast

* Iran too ‘great’ to be intimidated: Rouhani

Drone attacks claimed by Iran-aligned Yemen rebels shut down one of Saudi Arabia’s main oil pipelines yesterday, further ratcheting up Gulf tensions after the mysterious sabotage of several tankers.

Days after the United States deployed bombers and an assault ship to bolster an aircraft carrier in the region, the world’s largest crude exporter said two pumping stations had been targeted early yesterday.

They lie on the East West Pipeline, able to pump five million barrels of oil a day from the oil-rich eastern province to a Red Sea export terminal.

Meanwhile, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented a military plan at a meeting of top national security officials last week that would send as many as 120,000 US troops to the Middle East in the event that Iran strikes American forces in the region or speeds up its development of nuclear weapons, The New York Times reported Monday.

The Times said the plan, which does not call for a land invasion of Iran, was ordered in part by national security adviser John Bolton.

Citing administration officials, the Times said it is unknown whether President Donald Trump has been briefed on the plan, including the number of troops. The Times said the meeting occurred days after the Trump administration cited “specific and credible” intelligence last week that suggested Iranian forces and proxies were targeting US forces in Syria, Iraq and at sea.

The meeting included Bolton, Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, according to the Times.

The announcement came hours after Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they had targeted vital installations in Saudi Arabia, which leads a military coalition against them.

The 1,200-kilometre (750-mile) pipeline reportedly hit yesterday serves as an alternative for Saudi crude exports if the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf were to be closed.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait in case of a military confrontation with the United States.

The reported pipeline attacks came after the UAE said four ships belonging to Saudi Arabia were damaged in “sabotage attacks” off the emirate of Fujairah, close to the Hormuz.

Washington and its Gulf allies stopped short of blaming Riyadh’s regional arch-rival Tehran for the sabotage, but US President Donald Trump warned Iran against doing anything to harm US interests.

“If they (Iran) do anything, it would be a very bad mistake,” Trump warned at the White House.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hit back, saying the Islamic republic was “too great to be intimidated by anyone”.

The attacks came after the United States deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group, an amphibious assault vessel, a Patriot missile battery and B-52 bombers, triggering fears of a possible military confrontation.

“In an environment of rising regional tensions, limited Iranian operations against the UAE and Saudi Arabia might be designed to dissuade Abu Dhabi and Riyadh and signal that war with Iran will not be limited to Iranian soil,” said Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

Source: AGENCIES