Iran Claims Saudi Arabian Pipeline Attack was American ‘False Flag’

The Middle East has been a turbulent place for a very, very long time.

Not only is the region one of immense natural resources, which almost always a catalyst for conflict, but it also plays host to some of the world’s most diametrically-opposed religious beliefs – a fact that cannot be ignored in such a hotbed of terrorism.

Political feuds have been simmering in the Middle East as well, particularly between the United States and Iran as of late.

The US under President Donald Trump has essentially undone a deal between America and Iran that was seen by many to be far too lenient on the Persian nation.  That deal, ratified under the administration of former US President Barack Obama, was believed to allow Iran to skirt international rules regarding their development of nuclear weapons; something that could be a serious threat to the United States.

Now, as an Iranian plot to attack American military targets in the Middle East was revealed last week, the two nations have been trading threats on the world’s stage.

The latest escalation between the two comes as the Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure was attacked for the second time this week by armed drones targeting a pipeline.

Iran had some bizarre comments about the incident.

Iranian state media said Tuesday the pipeline attack in Saudi Arabia was carried out by “seven drones of Yemen’s armed forces,” citing an unnamed Yemeni source who said the operation was “retaliation for Saudi Arabia’s aggression and siege of the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.”

The heavy-handedness of Saudi Arabia’s operations in Yemen has indeed wrought international condemnation. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the conflict and subsequent humanitarian crisis on the precipice of “imminent catastophe.” The U.S., which had originally been providing intelligence, logistics and aerial refueling support since the conflict began in 2015, has since withdrawn some of its support to Riyadh based in part on human rights concerns.

Then came the clincher…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday warned against so-called “false flag operations” that the U.S. and its Gulf allies wish to attribute to Iran, including the recent tanker attack.

The concept of “false flag” attacks is particularly popular among conspiracy theorists on the internet, who tend to attribute a majority of conflicts, both foreign and domestic, on the idea.

President Trump and his national security team have recently reviewed plans to send 120,000 US troops to the region to deal with Iran, with preliminary plans reportedly not calling for any of these troops to set foot in the Persian nation.