*WASHINGTON: *The White House said on Sunday President Donald Trump maystill meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, despite the UnitedStates accusing Iran of ‘masterminding’ drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oilfacilities.
White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway did not rule out the possibility ina television interview broadcast as Saudi Arabia raced to restartoperations at oil plants hit by drone attacks that slashed its production.
Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen claimed Saturday’sstrikes on two plants owned by state giant Aramco, but US Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo blamed Iran, saying there was no evidence the“unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply” was launched from Yemen.
Conway told *Fox News Sunday* that Trump would “consider” following up onhis suggestion of a meeting at the upcoming UN General Assembly session inNew York, adding that “the conditions must always be right for thispresident to make a deal or take a meeting.”
Arch-foes Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since May lastyear when Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal and began reimposingpunitive measures.
Iran responded by scaling back its commitments to the multination accord,which gave it the promise of sanctions relief in return for curbs on itsnuclear program.
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Analysts see hope for more compromise following the exit of Trump’shardline national security adviser John Bolton, the architect of a “maximumpressure” strategy to bring Iran into line.
Saturday’s explosions set off fires that engulfed the Abqaiq plant, theworld’s largest oil processing facility, and nearby Khurais, which hosts amassive oil field.
Conway said Trump’s trade war with China, which has increased uncertaintyand undermined the global economy, proved the benefits of having abusinessman in the White House who was a patient deal maker.
“He also knows that you don’t sit down and meet with people unless you haveall these other accouterments around the relationship,” Conway told *Fox*,adding, “Like the maximum pressure campaign, like pulling out of theIranian nuclear deal, like the secretary of treasury and secretary of statejust days ago from the White House announcing new sanctions.” -APP/AFP
