The Wall Street Journal - 20.09.2019

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Friday, September 20, 2019 |A

never sent but the Pentagon

deployed more than 500 ser-

vice members and a Patriot

missile battery to Prince Sul-

tan Air Base. That was the

first deployment of such capa-

bilities to Saudi Arabia since

the U.S. moved out after the

invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The USS Abraham Lincoln

carrier and its strike group

has been in the region since

May, accompanied by a hand-

ful of destroyers that could

defend against cruise-missile

and drone attacks.

When the Lincoln heads to-

ward the Pacific Ocean as

scheduled later this year, it

will be replaced with the USS

Harry S. Truman and its strike

group, defense officials said.

At a Pentagon press brief-

ing Thursday, Air Force Col.

Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for

the Joint Chiefs of Staff, de-

clined to answer a question

about additional resources.

crude exports,” said Dario

Scaffardi, chief executive of

Italian refiner Saras SpA.

The kingdom sometimes

imports extra diesel during

the summer, when air condi-

tioning puts higher demands

on the power grid, but the

quantities it has sought this

week far exceed its regular de-

mand, traders said.

Brent crude oil jumped

more than 2% after The Wall

Street Journal first reported

that Saudi Arabia was import-

ing oil products and had

sought crude purchases as

well. Brent crude oil futures,

the international benchmark,

ended up 1.26% at $64.40. U.S.

(WTI) crude ended up 0.03%

at $58.13.

Much of what Saudi Arabia

exports is unrefined crude oil.

It keeps some of the oil it

pumps out of the ground and

refines it into products includ-

ing diesel, gasoline and fuel

oil, used mainly for domestic

electricity generation and

transport fuel. Saudi Arabia

isn’t normally an importer of

crude and is ordinarily a net

exporter of refined oil prod-

ucts.

Saudi officials earlier this

week said they would use ex-

cess inventory and untapped

production capacity to meet

customers’ needs until it re-

stored capacity at facilities

damaged by the attacks.

In the short term, Aramco

went to global markets seek-

ing products including diesel,

gasoline and fuel oil for do-

mestic use, according to trad-

ers. To preserve its own crude

for exports, Saudi Arabia

needs to reduce the amount of

domestic crude it refines to

make those products.

PLANET LABS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

In one of the most dramatic
reversals, Aramco has sought
to buy crude from Iraq, whose
oil industry has long struggled
to fully recover from years of
underinvestment under Sad-
dam Hussein and a U.S.-led in-
vasion more than a decade
ago. During the invasion, when
Iraqi oil production was shut
down, Saudi Arabia stepped in
to fill the gap.
Saudi Arabia has asked
Iraq’s national oil marketing
company, the State Organiza-
tion for Marketing of Oil, or
SOMO, for as much as 20 mil-
lion barrels of crude to supply
Saudi’s domestic refineries,
two people familiar with the
matter said.
Aramco, officially called the
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., declined
to comment. SOMO’s deputy
head of crude sales, Ali Nazar
Shatar, said there is no con-
tract between SOMO and
Aramco.
Aramco has also been buy-
ing refined oil products from
global markets. By purchasing
fuels already refined else-
where, Aramco can free up
more of its crude for export.
“On Monday, they started
inquiring around for the pur-
chase of oil products, probably
with the aim of maximizing

ContinuedfromPageOne

well as a Terminal High Alti-

tude Area Defense, or Thaad,

system, which can intercept

ballistic missiles before impact

and cover a much wider area.

Neither system necessarily

would have been able to de-

fend against the kind of coor-

dinated cruise-missile and

drone attacks used last week-

end, but would strengthen the

region’s defenses, particularly

against ballistic-missile

threats.

A squadron of high-end jet

fighters, possibly F-22 Raptors

also may be included in the

new deployment, officials said.

Those jet fighters were to

be part of a deployment to

Prince Sultan Air Base in

Saudi Arabia earlier this sum-

mer following the decision to

move more hardware into the

region after the U.S. identified

what it said were potential

Iranian threats in the spring.

The fighter squadron was

very credible, a close aide to

French President Emmanuel

Macron said.

Mr. Zarif, a political moder-

ate and a key ally of President

Hassan Rouhani, has helped

shape Iran’s diplomatic course

for years. He was the country’s

point man in negotiating the

2015 international deal that re-

stricted Iran’s nuclear program.

But both he and Mr. Rouhani

have struck tones similar to

conservatives in opposing U.S.

pressure after Washington

pulled out of the nuclear accord

last year and imposed new eco-

nomic sanctions on Iran.

The Trump administration in

July sanctioned Mr. Zarif for im-

plementing the agenda of Iran’s

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

WORLD NEWS

ment in the attacks, which

came amid already high ten-

sions and intensified fears of a

broader conflict in the region.

“We don’t want war, we

don’t want to engage in a mili-

tary confrontation,” Foreign

Minister Javad Zarif told CNN

on Thursday. “But we won’t

blink to defend our territory.”

Mr. Pompeo, speaking to re-

porters in Abu Dhabi, responded

to Mr. Zarif’s comments: “While

the foreign minister of Iran is

threatening all-out war and to

fight to the last American, we’re

here to build out a coalition

aimed at achieving peace and a

peaceful resolution.”

“I think it’s abundantly clear,

and there is an enormous con-

sensus in the region that we

know precisely who conducted

these attacks—it was Iran,” Mr.

Pompeo said. “I didn’t hear any-

body in the region who doubted

that for a single moment.”

Seven experts from the

French defense ministry who

specialize in missile trajectory

and explosives were on their

way to Saudi Arabia, according

to French officials. France will

draw its own conclusions from

the investigation but the

Houthis’ claim doesn’t appear

Iran had threatened to can-

cel a trip by the Iranian dele-

gation, including Mr. Rouhani,

to New York for the U.N. Gen-

eral Assembly next week if Mr.

Zarif wasn’t granted a visa,

but by Thursday evening he

had received one.

Mr. Pompeo had said in Ri-

yadh: “If you’re connected to a

foreign terrorist organization,

it seems to me it would be a

reasonable thing to think

about whether they ought to

be prevented to attend a meet-

ing which is about peace.” Mr.

Trump said that “If it was up

to me, I would let them come.”

Any move to deny Iran’s top

officials access to the U.N. Gen-

eral Assembly would have ran-

kled European governments

who were critical of the U.S. de-

cision to sanction Mr. Zarif and

are focused on trying to calm

tensions in the Middle East.

The European Union was

planning to convene a meeting

of foreign ministers of Iran

and the five remaining partici-

pants in the nuclear deal—

France, Germany, Britain, Rus-

sia and China—which Mr. Zarif

is to attend.

Mr. Macron said last month

he was hopeful Mr. Trump and

Mr. Rouhani could meet at the

U.N. summit, something the U.S.

president has said he was open

to. Iranian leaders have said

they would meet with the U.S.

only if sanctions are rolled back

and the U.S. rejoins the deal.

The strikes on Saturday are

the most serious yet in a series

aimed at the region’s energy

supply. The U.S. has accused

Iran of orchestrating attacks on

six tankers this year, which Teh-

ran denied. Iran also captured a

British-flagged vessel after U.K.

forces detained an Iranian

tanker off the coast of Gibraltar.

On Wednesday, a spokesman

for the Saudi-led coalition fight-

ing the Houthi rebels said the

weapons found at the attack

sites could be traced to Iran.

The commander of Iran’s Is-

lamic Revolutionary Guard

Corps on Thursday denied the

allegations: “Today, we have

become so powerful that the

enemies have to even falsely

attribute any incident that

happens to us,” Maj. Gen. Hos-

sein Salami said, according to

the ISNA news agency.

—Laurence Norman, Aresu

Eqbali, Noemie Bisserbe

and Courtney McBride

contributed to this article.

Iran’s top diplomat said a
military strike by the U.S. or
Saudi Arabia against his coun-
try would result in “an all-out
war,” a day after Riyadh ac-
cused Tehran of orchestrating
debilitating attacks on its oil
infrastructure and raised the
prospect of retaliation.
Iran-aligned Houthi rebels
in Yemen claimed responsibil-
ity for the weekend missile
and drone strikes that took
out more than half of Saudi
Arabia’s oil production and
sent crude prices soaring. U.S.
officials have blamed Tehran
for the attacks, though Presi-
dent Trump has steered clear
of a war footing. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo called the
attacks an “act of war,” but
has said the U.S. is seeking to
build an international coalition
to exert pressure on Iran
through the United Nations.
Iran has denied involve-

BYSUNEENGELRASMUSSEN

Iran Warns of War if U.S. or Saudis Strike

Washington is seeking

to build international

coalition to put more

pressure on Tehran

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Iran ’won’t blink’ to defend itself,

drawing a sharp response from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

mand, defense officials said.

Mr. Trump and his top na-

tional-security aides are ex-

pected to meet again Friday to

discuss potential responses,

defense and White House offi-

cials said.

The meetings among mili-

tary officials on Thursday and

Friday are designed to prepare

both for White House discus-

sions and for any subsequent

decisions, the officials said.

Mr. Trump has said he

wants to avoid a military clash

and often stated he would pre-

fer to reduce the U.S. military

presence in the Middle East.

Secretary of State Mike

Pompeo on Wednesday called

last weekend’s attack an “act

of war,” while saying Thursday

the administration is inter-

ested in a peaceful resolution.

Either way, the deployment

of additional U.S. forces to the

region appeared to be one

likely response to the attack,

officials said, even if Mr.

Trump opts not to answer it

militarily and pursues a rem-

edy through the United Na-

tions, an option officials have

said he prefers.

Officials are considering

sending additional Patriot an-

timissile batteries, which can

be deployed relatively quickly

to defend specific areas, as

WASHINGTON—The Penta-
gon is considering sending ad-
ditional antimissile batteries,
another squadron of jet fight-
ers and added surveillance ca-
pabilities to the Middle East to
shore up the military’s regional
presence in the wake of the at-
tack last weekend on Saudi
Arabia’s petroleum industry,
U.S. military officials said.
The measures under consid-
eration also include a commit-
ment to maintaining the pres-
ence of a U.S. aircraft carrier
and other warships in the
Middle East for the foresee-
able future, the officials said.
The extra force would be
meant to show heightened re-
solve and to bolster defenses
following Saturday’s strikes,
and is under consideration as
President Trump also is
weighing options for a re-
sponse to the attack, which
U.S. officials charge was car-
ried out by Iran.
Military officials at U.S.
Central Command, which over-
sees operations in the Middle
East, planned a series of meet-
ings Thursday and Friday
among midlevel officials and
deputies to Marine Gen. Frank
McKenzie, who leads the com-

BYGORDONLUBOLD
ANDNANCYA.YOUSSEF

Pentagon Weighs

Sending Additional

Forces to Mideast

PHIL STEWART/REUTERS

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, speaks with a U.S. soldier near a U.S. attack helicopter in Afghanistan.

Last year on average, Saudi

Arabia produced 10.3 million

barrels of crude oil a day and

exported 7.4 million barrels a

day, along with an additional 2

million barrels a day of refined

products, according to the Or-

ganization of the Petroleum

Exporting Countries.

The attack on the Abqaiq

oil processing plant is ex-

pected to cut activity at do-

mestic refineries by up to 1.

million barrels of crude a day,

reducing the supply of prod-

ucts for domestic consumption

and exports, said Iman Nas-

seri, managing director Middle

East at consulting firm Facts

Global Energy.

“They are prioritizing the

international market and ex-

ports for crude,” Mr. Nasseri

said.

To keep its customers sup-

plied, Saudi Arabia has also

had to make adjustments to

the crude grades it offers cus-

tomers.

Aramco has told Indian re-

finers that it can’t deliver the

premium-grade Arab Light

crude they ordered. Instead,

the company will send heavy,

lower-grade crude, the Journal

reported on Tuesday.

Aramco replaced five car-

goes of Arab Light, a low-sul-

fur crude—including two des-

tined to China—with heavier,

higher sulfur crudes from the

Ras Tanura terminal in Saudi’s

eastern province this week,

said Samah Ahmed, a crude-oil

analyst at data company Kpler.

One Norwegian supertanker

that was set to load at Ras Ta-

nura on Wednesday was di-

verted, Ms. Ahmed said.

Saudis

Reach Out

For Crude

Saturday’s attack has reversed the region’s usual trade flows.

The promise

inside Hazel

is greater than

the poverty

around her.

CHILDFUND.ORG