Special White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday blamed Iran for a recent attack on Saudi oil fields, but added the Trump administration was still not ruling out a sit-down with the Iranian regime to renegotiate a nuclear deal.
Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,“ Conway repeated allegations by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Iran was responsible for attacks on Saudi oil fields that affected half of the nation's oil capacity.
The Houthi rebel group in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, but Pompeo pointed his finger at Iran for backing and ultimately orchestrating the strike.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif resoundingly
"So let’s be honest — there is a war going on between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. The Saudis are bombing and shooting at the Houthis everyday, with our help. What we should probably be doing is working to end the war, not expecting that one side will unilaterally stop fighting," Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted Saturday.
Conway used the attack on Saudi Arabia to repeat the administration's stance of mistrust toward Iran and praise President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal signed under Obama.
"The Iranian regime is responsible for this attack on civilian areas and infrastructure vital to our global energy supply and we're not going to stand for that," Conway said. "We will continue to call out maligned behavior, we will continue our maximum pressure campaign in Iran and this is a president who withdrew us from a very bad nuclear deal with a ne'er-do-well regime."
Trump has said he would be willing to meet with Iranian leaders to renegotiate a nuclear deal, and Conway suggested that the recent attack in Saudi Arabia didn't take that option off the table. "The president will at least consider his options," Conway said.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine