The Drone Attack on Oil and the Larger Iran Problem

By Norman T. Roule

Norman T. Roule is a geopolitical and energy consultant who served for 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, managing numerous programs relating to Iran and the Middle East. He served as the National Intelligence Manager for Iran (NIM-I) at the ODNI from 2008 until 2017. As NIM-I, he was the principal Intelligence Community (IC) official responsible for overseeing all aspects of national intelligence policy and activities related to Iran, to include IC engagement on Iran issues with senior policymakers in the National Security Council and the Department of State.  Mr. Roule is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an advisor to the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, a 2023 Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, and a non-resident senior adviser with the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also an advisor to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and the Counter Extremism Project (CEP).

When a series of drones were used to attack a key Saudi oil facility over the weekend, the impact on oil production was noted by global markets.  Oil prices spiked as the attack was believed to impact more than half of Saudi Arabia’s daily exports.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo placed the blame squarely on Tehran as the rest of the world awaits further evidence.  Iran has denied it is behind the attack. 

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