President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States is "locked and loaded" to respond to the attack against Saudi Aramco oil infrastructure.
“Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!” Trump said on Twitter.
Washington has blamed Iran for the attack.
The Tehran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen claimed Saturday's strikes on the plants in Abqaiq and Khurais.
But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed the finger squarely at Tehran, saying there was no evidence the "unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply" was launched from Yemen.
Trump also authorized the use of the US emergency oil stockpile to ensure stable supplies after the attack, which shut 5% of world production.
He tweeted that he had "authorized the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, if needed, in a to-be-determined amount."
The president also "informed all appropriate agencies to expedite approvals of the oil pipelines currently in the permitting process in Texas and various other States," without naming specific projects.
Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since May last year, when Trump pulled the US out of a 2015 deal with world powers that promised Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
