Iran Denies Involvement, Israel Suspected Behind Attacks on Energy and Civilian Sites in Gulf States

Tehran — Iranian officials have accused Israel of carrying out several drone strikes against energy and civilian sites in the Arab Gulf. The Iranian officials described the attacks as a planned effort to inflame regional anger and drag Arab states into a war against Tehran. A Tehran Foreign Ministry official told Middle East Eye that Israel was behind several drone strikes against Saudi Arabia. The official also claimed they were responsible for at least one attack on Oman. “I can state emphatically that some of the attacks were not carried out by us,” the official said, requesting anonymity. The official declined to specify which attacks were attributed to Israel, but Saudi Arabia has been struck at least five times by drones and missiles. Prince Sultan Air Base, the Ras Tanura oil refinery, and the US Embassy in Riyadh are among the facilities that have been targeted. The Duqm Port in Oman has also been targeted twice, a wide area regularly accessed by the US Navy since 2019. The Iranian official declined to say whether any Iranian proxy groups may have been involved. However, as of Wednesday, Iraqi Shia groups had not carried out cross-border attacks, limiting their response to US targets in Iraq. Iran has targeted US assets across the Middle East since Saturday, in retaliation for a major joint strike by the US and Israel that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Initially, the first wave of attacks focused on US military assets, but Gulf states reported that Iran had expanded its scope to target civilian infrastructure, including hotels, airports, and energy facilities. Nevertheless, Iranian officials publicly denied targeting energy facilities in Gulf states. The five-day conflict has severely damaged Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s ability to export oil and gas and undermined Dubai’s image as a safe place for expatriates. Mossad operates in the region. Two other Iranian sources told MEE that Israel’s foreign intelligence service, Mossad, had conducted several drone strikes. The Islamic Republic has detected their activity on its territory. They said authorities are in the process of locating a warehouse used by Mossad to store drones, and Iran is committed to “destroying them all”. “We would not be surprised if there are warehouses and operational spaces like that in other countries in the region that will be used by Israel to target our Gulf neighbours,” one source said. Mossad is known to have built a wide network of agents, informants, and logistics in Iran. This enables Israel to carry out a series of strikes against high-value targets.