The Financial Times: The attack on Aramco exposed the fragility and weaknesses of the Kingdom

The drones have exposed the kingdom’s weaknesses, the Financial Times reported.

The newspaper spoke of security vulnerabilities, the Kingdom after the September 14 attacks on Aramco factories in Abqaiq and Khurais.

The newspaper quoted US military officials as saying that they are investigating the reasons for the inability of the missile defense system of the Kingdom to repel this attack.

According to officials, this attack cast doubt on the effectiveness of not only Saudi defense systems but all modern defense systems.

A former Pentagon official told the paper that the world would see more such attacks over the next few years.

The report pointed out that the Abqaiq oil processing plant is protected by a special air defense system, which was also unable to intercept the drones, which are said to have originated from Iran.

He pointed to a qualitative development in the implementation of such an attack; where the first used drones to cover the missiles, which was described as a “lesson for all.”

The Financial Times also published an extensive report on what it called “gaps in the Kingdom’s security.”

The attack caused the Kingdom’s biggest drop in oil production in 86 years, but at the same time revealed how fragile the Kingdom was in dealing with the escalating confrontation between Iran and the United States.

The newspaper added that the timing is not in the interest of the Kingdom, which wants to divert world attention from the case of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his country’s consulate in Istanbul last October.

According to the newspaper, this attack was a “stab” to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic plan; he always said “we are a superpower”, a claim dispelled by this attack.

Tensions rose in the region days after an attack on Saudi Aramco in the east of the kingdom.

The attack was claimed by the Houthis, while Riyadh and Washington accused Tehran of being behind it, but the latter denied it.

The Daily Telegraph was the main actor in the attack, in an article titled “The Attack on Saudi Oilfields Bears Iran’s Fingerprints.”

According to a Saudi official, the attack on the Saudi oil industry is a “stab in the heart of the Kingdom.”

The “Daily Telegraph” that this attack “moved the war between the Kingdom and Iran from the shadows to light, where the confrontation between them now open.”

The newspaper says the kingdom is trying to avoid confrontation with Iran at all costs.