UN: Missiles Used to Attack Aramco Were of Iranian Origin

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Reuters file photo
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Reuters file photo
TT

UN: Missiles Used to Attack Aramco Were of Iranian Origin

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Reuters file photo
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Reuters file photo

Cruise missiles used in several attacks on Aramco's oil facilities and an international airport in Saudi Arabia last year were of "Iranian origin," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council in a report seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Guterres also said several items in US seizures of weapons and related materiel in November 2019 and February 2020 were "of Iranian origin."

Some have design characteristics similar to those also produced by a commercial entity in Iran, or bear Farsi markings, Guterres said, and some were delivered to the country between February 2016 and April 2018.

He said that "these items may have been transferred in a manner inconsistent" with a 2015 Security Council resolution that enshrines Tehran's deal with world powers to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the UN report.

Washington is pushing the 15-member council to extend an arms embargo on Iran that is due to expire in October under the nuclear deal. Council veto-powers Russia and China have already signaled their opposition to the move.

Guterres reports twice a year to the Security Council on the implementation of an arms embargo on Iran and other restrictions that remained in place after the deal.

The UN chief said the United Nations examined debris of weapons used in attacks on a Saudi oil facility in Afif in May, on the Abha international airport in June and August and on the Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Khurais and Abqaiq in September.

"The Secretariat assesses that the cruise missiles and/or parts thereof used in the four attacks are of Iranian origin," Guterres wrote.

The UN secretary-general also said that drones used in the May and September attacks were "of Iranian origin."

He also said the United Nations had observed that some items in the two US seizures "were identical or similar" to those found in the debris of the cruise missiles and the drones used in the 2019 attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The Security Council is due to discuss Guterres' report later this month.

US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft has said she will circulate a draft resolution to extend the arms embargo on Iran soon. If Washington is unsuccessful, it has threatened to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran under the nuclear deal, even though it quit the accord in 2018.

Iran has breached parts of the nuclear deal in response to the US withdrawal and Washington's reimposition of sanctions.

"I call upon all Member States to avoid provocative rhetoric and actions that may have a negative impact on regional stability," Guterres wrote in the 14-page report.



Philippines Files Protest over Beijing’s ‘Escalatory Actions’ in South China Sea

This handout photo taken on January 11, 2025 and released on January 12 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship sailing some 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers, 69 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon while being monitored by Philipine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua (not pictured). (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
This handout photo taken on January 11, 2025 and released on January 12 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship sailing some 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers, 69 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon while being monitored by Philipine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua (not pictured). (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
TT

Philippines Files Protest over Beijing’s ‘Escalatory Actions’ in South China Sea

This handout photo taken on January 11, 2025 and released on January 12 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship sailing some 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers, 69 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon while being monitored by Philipine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua (not pictured). (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
This handout photo taken on January 11, 2025 and released on January 12 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship sailing some 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers, 69 miles) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon while being monitored by Philipine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua (not pictured). (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)

The Philippines on Monday called on Beijing to desist from "escalatory actions" at a South China Sea shoal and said a protest has been lodged over the presence of Chinese coast guard, militia and navy in its exclusive economic zone.

The protest stems from the presence of two coast guard vessels on Jan. 5 and Jan. 10 in and around the disputed Scarborough shoal, one of which was a 165 m (541ft) long boat referred to by the Philippines as "the monster". It said a Chinese navy helicopter was also deployed in the area.

"The escalatory actions of these Chinese vessels and aircraft disregard Philippine and international laws," said the Philippines' national maritime council, an inter-agency group tasked with upholding the country's interests at sea.

"China should direct its vessels to desist from conducting illegal actions that violate Philippines' sovereign rights in its EEZ," it said in a statement.

China's embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China says the Scarborough Shoal is its territory and has accused the Philippines of trespassing.

Tensions between China and the US ally the Philippines have escalated the past two years, with frequent run-ins between their coast guards in the South China Sea, which China claims sovereignty over almost in its entirety.

The statement came just hours after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had a virtual call with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba where the three leaders discussed China's conduct in the South China Sea.

China's expansive claims overlap with the EEZs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The disputed waterway is a strategic shipping route through which about $3 trillion of annual commerce moves.

A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal said Beijing's claims, based on its historic maps, have no basis under international law, a decision China does not recognize.