Why European powers have mostly kept quiet about the Saudi oil attacks

Saudi Arabia oil strikes.
(Image credit: Amr Nabil/AP)

The drone strikes on two of Saudi Arabia's major oil facilities over the weekend have dominated the news cycle in the U.S., but they seemingly haven't altered how European leaders are approaching their continued diplomatic efforts with Iran.

As things stand, The New York Times reports, Europe appears cautious about jumping aboard the blame-Iran bandwagon, even after Saudi Arabia doubled down on its accusations that Tehran, not Yemen's Houthi rebels, were behind the attacks. And there are no signs that Europe's largest powers, such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, are reneging on their endeavors to once again get Iran to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear pact, which is now in jeopardy.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.