Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

3 days ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

3 days ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

3 days ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

3 days ago

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

3 days ago

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

3 days ago

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

3 days ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

3 days ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

3 days ago
Iran’s Supreme Leader: No Talks With the US at Any Level
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
September 17, 2019

Share

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader said Tuesday “there will be no talks with the U.S. at any level”— remarks apparently meant to end all speculation about a possible U.S.-Iran meeting between the two countries’ presidents at the U.N. later this month.
Iranian state TV quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who’s been personally sanctioned by the Trump administration, as saying this is the position of the entire leadership of the country and that “all officials in the Islamic Republic unanimously believe” this.
“There will be no talks with the U.S. at any level,” he said.
His comments come as Iran faces allegations it is behind a devastating weekend attack on a Saudi oil field and the world’s largest crude oil processing plant that knocked out 5.7 million barrels of crude oil production per day, or about 5% of the world’s daily production. It also took out 2 billion cubic feet of daily gas production.
Aramco, the Saudi oil company targeted, said no workers were injured in the attack.
The attack early Saturday on the kingdom’s facilities in the east was claimed as multiple drone strikes by Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, however, says the attack did not come from Yemen and said initial investigations show Iranian weapons were used. The kingdom, though, has not yet said where the attack was launched from or what kind of weapons were involved.
The U.S has made similar allegations, going so far as to say the attack may have been launched from Iran itself or nearby Iraq, where Iran has powerful proxy militias on the ground.
Iran has denied the charges.

Reports About a Possible Meeting Between Trump and Rouhani

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday called on the international community “to shoulder its responsibility in condemning the perpetrators” and “clearly confronting” those behind the attack. The government’s statements were carried in state-run media following a weekly Cabinet meeting that was overseen by King Salman, who was quoted saying Saudi Arabia is capable of defending against such “cowardly attacks.”

“That’s why all Iranian officials, from the president and the foreign minister to all others have announced that we do not negotiate (with the U.S.) either bilaterally or multilaterally.” — Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Current tensions stem from President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. He also re-imposed and escalated sanctions on Iran that sent the country’s economy into freefall, including targeting its oil exports.
Khamenei said the U.S. wants to prove its “maximum pressure policy” against Iran is successful. “In return, we have to prove that the policy is not worth a penny for the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said.
“That’s why all Iranian officials, from the president and the foreign minister to all others have announced that we do not negotiate (with the U.S.) either bilaterally or multilaterally,” he said.
There had been reports about a possible meeting between Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly next week in New York.
Trump declared Monday it “looks” like Iran was behind the explosive attack on the Saudi oil facilities. But he stressed that military retaliation was not yet on the table in response to the strike against a key U.S. Mideast ally.
Trump, alternating between aggressive and nonviolent reactions, said the U.S. could respond “with an attack many, many times larger” but also “I’m not looking at options right now.”
Earlier, he had said the U.S. was “locked and loaded.” He also said the impact of oil production shortages would not be significant on the U.S., which is a net energy exporter.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday after their biggest single-day jump in years due to the damaging attack. Brent, the international benchmark, is down 5.3% to $65.34. Both rose more than 14% Monday.
Photo of damages to Saudi oil plant in Buqyaq
This image provided on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019, by the U.S. government and DigitalGlobe and annotated by the source, shows damage to the infrastructure at Saudi Aramco’s Kuirais oil field in Buqyaq, Saudi Arabia. The drone attack Saturday on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq plant and its Khurais oil field led to the interruption of an estimated 5.7 million barrels of the kingdom’s crude oil production per day, equivalent to more than 5% of the world’s daily supply. (U.S. government/Digital Globe via AP)

The Attackers Had Detailed Knowledge of Which Tanks and Machinery to Hit

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister is expected to give an update on the country’s oil production at some point Tuesday.
The American Automobile Association, known as AAA, said Tuesday that Americans can expect local pump prices to start to increase this week by as much 25 cents per gallon throughout September.

“Whether this is a short or long term trend will be determined by the price of crude oil prices and how quickly the facilities in Saudi Arabia can recover and get back online.” — Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson
“Whether this is a short or long term trend will be determined by the price of crude oil prices and how quickly the facilities in Saudi Arabia can recover and get back online,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson.
One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the U.S. was considering dispatching additional military resources to the Gulf but that no decisions had been made. The U.S. already has the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier battle group in the area, as well as fighter jets, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and air defenses.
American officials released satellite images of the damage at the heart of the kingdom’s Abqaiq processing plant and a key oil field, and two U.S. officials said the attackers used multiple cruise missiles and drone aircraft.
Private experts said the satellite images show the attackers had detailed knowledge of which tanks and machinery to hit within the sprawling Saudi oil processing facility at Abqaiq to cripple production. But “satellite imagery can’t show you where the attack originated from,” said Joe Bermudez, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who examined the images.
The Saudis invited the U.N. and other international experts to help investigate, suggesting there was no rush to retaliate and that the kingdom is looking for an internationally backed response to the attack.
For his part, Khamenei on Tuesday reiterated Iran’s stance that if the U.S. returns to the nuclear deal, Tehran would consider negotiations.
“Otherwise, no talks will happen … with the Americans,” he said. “Neither in New York nor anywhere” else.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Fatally Shoot Man Armed With Knives After Standoff

DON'T MISS

Why Epstein’s Furious Grip on Washington Holds

DON'T MISS

US Envoy Meets Netanyahu on Lebanon and Syria, Israeli Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Gerry Spence, Renowned for Courtroom Victories and Unique Style, Dead at 96

DON'T MISS

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

DON'T MISS

Widespread Protests Held in Australia to Support Palestinians

DON'T MISS

VP Vance Says Russia Has Made Significant Concessions Toward Ukraine Peace Deal

DON'T MISS

Israel Strikes Yemeni Capital Sanaa

DON'T MISS

Howard University President to Step Down This Month

DON'T MISS

Hollywood’s Biggest AI Debut? Las Vegas Sphere’s ‘Wizard of Oz’

UP NEXT

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

UP NEXT

Widespread Protests Held in Australia to Support Palestinians

UP NEXT

VP Vance Says Russia Has Made Significant Concessions Toward Ukraine Peace Deal

UP NEXT

Israel Strikes Yemeni Capital Sanaa

UP NEXT

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

UP NEXT

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

UP NEXT

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

UP NEXT

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

UP NEXT

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

UP NEXT

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

Gerry Spence, Renowned for Courtroom Victories and Unique Style, Dead at 96

19 hours ago

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

19 hours ago

Widespread Protests Held in Australia to Support Palestinians

19 hours ago

VP Vance Says Russia Has Made Significant Concessions Toward Ukraine Peace Deal

19 hours ago

Israel Strikes Yemeni Capital Sanaa

19 hours ago

Howard University President to Step Down This Month

20 hours ago

Hollywood’s Biggest AI Debut? Las Vegas Sphere’s ‘Wizard of Oz’

20 hours ago

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

1 day ago

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

2 days ago

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

2 days ago

Fresno Police Fatally Shoot Man Armed With Knives After Standoff

Fresno police officers fatally shot a 35-year-old man armed with knives Saturday afternoon after a standoff at an apartment complex, authori...

13 hours ago

Fresno police fatally shot Joseph Merical, 35, on Saturday, August 23, 2025, after a standoff at a west Fresno apartment complex. (Fresno PD)
13 hours ago

Fresno Police Fatally Shoot Man Armed With Knives After Standoff

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
19 hours ago

Why Epstein’s Furious Grip on Washington Holds

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack attends an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon July 22, 2025. (Reuters File)
19 hours ago

US Envoy Meets Netanyahu on Lebanon and Syria, Israeli Officials Say

Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos arrives at court with lawyer Gerry Spence. June 28, 1990. (Reuters File)
19 hours ago

Gerry Spence, Renowned for Courtroom Victories and Unique Style, Dead at 96

The Pentagon building is seen in Arlington, Virginia, U.S, April 6, 2023. (Reuters File)
19 hours ago

Pentagon Working on Plans for Military Deployment in Chicago, Washington Post Reports

Demonstrators hold placards as they take part in the 'Nationwide March for Palestine' protest in Sydney, Australia, August 24, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
19 hours ago

Widespread Protests Held in Australia to Support Palestinians

Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the village of Sknyliv on the outskirts of Lviv, Ukraine August 21, 2025. (Reuters File)
19 hours ago

VP Vance Says Russia Has Made Significant Concessions Toward Ukraine Peace Deal

Smoke billows from the site of Israeli air strikes in Sanaa, Yemen August 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
19 hours ago

Israel Strikes Yemeni Capital Sanaa

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend