Plain Talk: Senator Cramer Says Obama’s Iran Deal Partly to Blame for Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities

On this episode of Plain Talk, Senator Kevin Cramer and I discussed the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Iranian equipment was used in the attacks, but the country is denying involvement.

Cramer, who said he’s “read the classified CIA brief on the evidence,” said it’s his “sense” Iran was behind the attacks. “Any deniability is difficult for them,” he said.

He also said the controversial deal with Iran negotiated by President Barack Obama’s administration was partly to blame for the attacks.

“I would argue that the U.S. should never have gotten into it,” he said of the deal, arguing that while the agreement may have paused Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, it also provided the nation a lot of cash through which to enhance their conventional war-making capacity. “Iran clearly has more military capability than people once thought,” he added.

Cramer also credited the resurgence in American oil production with acting as a “global stabilizing force” in the wake of the attacks which interrupted, briefly, an estimated 5 to 6 percent of the world’s oil supply.

As for what should be done about the attacks, Cramer said he isn’t sure yet even though Saudi Arabia is an (imperfect) ally. “The attack was not on the United States of America,” he said.

“We have to re-establish a deterrent to Iran,” he added, suggesting a mechanism through which the country could be held accountable for acting belligerently.

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