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The regional rivalry between Iran’s Shiite rulers and Saudi Arabia’s Sunni royal family for hegemony in the Middle East, including Syria, Iraq and, mainly, Yemen, intensified in 2019, after drone and missile attacks on state oil company Saudi Aramco’s refineries in Abqaiq and Khurais, in Saudi territory. The attacks temporarily halved Riyadh’s oil production. Houthi rebels in Yemen, backed by Iran, have been blamed, although Tehran has denied direct involvement.
