UN says cannot confirm Iran behind Saudi oil attack

UNITED NATIONS: The UN has been unable to confirm Iranian involvement in a dramatic attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, secretary-general Antonio Guterres said Tuesday.

Drones and cruise missiles were used in the September bombardment, which knocked out half of the kingdom´s crude production and fuelled a record surge in prices. Saudi officials, the United States and several European countries accused Iran of responsibility for the attack, which Tehran has denied.

UN investigators had been given access to debris of the weapons used in the attack, Guterres said in a six-monthly report to the Security Council on Iran´s nuclear programme, seen by AFP on Tuesday.

But the investigation was not able to "independently corroborate that the cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles used in these attacks are of Iranian origin," the report said. An investigation into the attack is continuing and will be submitted to the Security Council when finished, Guterres said.