• US Trump says the US is "loaded and ready" to respond to the attack in Saudi Arabia
  • Supply: Trump authorizes the release of oil from US strategic reserves after the attack in Saudi Arabia
  • Saudi Arabia: Questions about the authorship of the attack against Saudi facilities are growing

The US president, Donald Trump, said Monday that he does not want to go to war with Iran, although he warned that the United States is "better prepared" in the event of a conflict between the two countries, following the attacks last weekend against refineries in Saudi Arabia.

"I don't want war with anyone ... We would certainly like to avoid it," Trump said in statements to reporters at the White House during a meeting with the crown prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad al Jalifa.

In the event of a conflict, the president considered that the United States is "better prepared" than Iran, since it has "the best weapons systems in the world", and reviewed the current US military arsenal, which highlighted several types of missiles, tanks and airplanes

"We have a very high level of ammunition. We were at a very low level when I arrived," he presumed.

On Saturday, two refineries of Saudi state oil company Aramco, key to the global supply of crude oil, were attacked with ten drones, which caused a reduction of about 50% of their production.

The action was claimed by the Houthi rebels of Yemen, who are supported by Tehran.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo directly held the Islamic Republic accountable and said there was no "evidence" that the attacks came from Yemen, and on Sunday Trump said the United States was "charged and ready" to respond .

INACCEPTABLE AND UNLOCKED

Iran's reaction has not been long in coming. This Monday his Foreign Ministry rejected again the accusations of Washington about his alleged involvement and ruled out a possible meeting between the presidents of both countries.

"These accusations are unacceptable and completely unfounded," said Iran's Foreign spokesman Abas Musaví.

During the press conference at the White House, Trump was asked about whether he believed that Iran was behind the attack on Saudi refineries, to which he replied that "it seems" yes, but he did not confirm it. "It seems so, we will definitely tell you. It is being reviewed right now," he said.

On the other hand, the US president ruled out that the diplomatic channel has been "exhausted": "No, it has never been exhausted. You never know what will happen. I know you want to make a deal, at some point it will work," he added.

Speaking to the Fox Business television network, Marc Short, chief of staff of the vice president, Mike Pence, clarified Trump's words when on Sunday he said the US is "charged and ready" to react to the attack in Saudi Arabia. "It means several things," Short said.

"One thing that means is that the United States today under its president is better prepared to handle these types of events because we are now a net oil exporter," Short said. He stressed that the current situation is not the same as it was in the seventies or nineties of the last century.

"The United States is a net exporter that produces 16 million barrels of oil per day and much of that has been due to the deregulation agenda of this Administration that has allowed much of that," said Short.

The price of Texas oil (WTI) for delivery in October opened Monday with a strong rise of 10.50%, overcoming the barrier of $ 60 a barrel, in a volatile environment after the attacks in Saudi Arabia.

The US Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, said it is "still premature" to know if it is necessary to resort to crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) of the country to compensate for the price increase after the attack on Saudi refineries.

Currently, the United States has 630 million barrels saved for emergencies.

This reserve was created in 1975, after the Arab oil embargo that raised prices and caused a sharp economic crisis.

Its objective is to avoid future interruptions in the supply of crude oil and serve as a "foreign policy tool", according to the Department of Energy's website.

On Sunday, the CNN television network broadcast satellite images of Saudi refineries affected by the attack that showed that it came from the northwest, which may mean that the aggression was launched from Iraq, where Iran has allies.

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  • Iran
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  • Donald Trump

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