Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Washington

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday accused Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-aligned armed factions, of carrying out the attack that shut down Saudi Arabia’s main oil pipeline.

In an interview with Fox News, Rubio said the group had “fired into Saudi Arabia,” pledging that the United States would “live up to our commitments” under its defense agreement with the Kingdom.

The United States designated Kataib Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity in 2009. Earlier this month, Washington imposed further sanctions on networks supporting the group under Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign launched on August 24 targeting revenue and financial networks linked to Tehran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

On September 11, Saudi Arabia said drones launched from Iraqi territory struck its East-West oil pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions, causing injuries and damage. An Iraqi investigation later traced the launches to Maysan province in southern Iraq, prompting Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi to remove the commander of Maysan Operations Command and the province’s police chief from their posts. The pipeline resumed operations on Tuesday at a reduced rate, according to sources cited by Reuters.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella of Iran-aligned Iraqi armed factions, denied involvement, linking the accusations to an attempt to divert attention from Saudi “military setbacks” in Yemen. No group has publicly claimed responsibility.