SAUDI READY TO ACT
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was no evidence the attacks came from Yemen, where a Saudi-led military coalition has been battling the Houthis for over four years in a conflict widely seen as a proxy war between regional rivals Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran.
Riyadh has accused Iran and its proxies of being behind previous attacks claimed by the Houthis on oil pumping stations and Shaybah oilfield, charges Tehran denies.
Some Iraqi media outlets said the attack originated from Iraq, where Iran-backed paramilitary groups have wielded increasing power but Iraq denied this on Sunday and vowed to punish anyone who intended to use Iraq as a launchpad for attacks in the region.
Regional tensions have escalated after Washington quit an international nuclear deal and extended sanctions on Iran to choke off its vital oil exports, a move supported by U.S. Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The attack comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was possible at the United Nations General Assembly in New York later in September. Tehran ruled out talks until sanctions are lifted.
"Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply," Pompeo said in a Twitter post on Saturday.
Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Trump by telephone on Saturday that Riyadh was willing and able to deal with the "terrorist aggression".
Turkey, an ally of Iran, condemned the attack but called for avoiding "all sorts of provocative steps" that could damage regional security and stability, the foreign ministry said.
A senior Emirati official said the UAE, Riyadh's main partner in the Western-backed military coalition in Yemen, would fully support Saudi Arabia as the assault "targets us all".
The UAE, concerned about rising tensions with Iran and Western criticism of the Yemen war, in June scaled down its military presence, leaving Riyadh to try to neutralise the Houthis to prevent Iran from gaining influence along its border.
The conflict has been in military stalemate for years. The alliance has air supremacy but has come under international scrutiny over civilian deaths and a humanitarian crisis that has seen Yemen pushed to the brink of famine.
The Houthis, who have proved better at guerrilla warfare, have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities, complicating U.N. peace efforts to end the war. Riyadh accuses Iran of arming Houthis, a charge both of them deny.
