Saudi Arabia Intercepts Drones from Yemen and Iraq

Saudi Arabia stated on Tuesday evening that its air defence systems intercepted and downed several drones launched from Iraqi territory. The attack followed a similar incident by Houthi forces from Yemen targeting Saudi oil facilities.

In a statement delivered through the Ministry of Defence, Spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said the drones attempted to target oil facilities in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia possesses the legitimate right to defend itself and protect its national capabilities, and reserves the right to respond “at the appropriate time and place,” al-Maliki stated, as reported by Al-Arabiya.

The Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement strongly condemning the Iran-backed militias for their repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia’s energy sector targets. The attack comes ahead of a planned visit by the Iraqi Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia this week, and just one day after a similar drone strike targeted the same region—an incident that prompted Riyadh to urge Baghdad to prevent its territory from being used as a launchpad for attacks.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the first drone attack and pledged legal action against anyone found responsible. His office stated that Iraq is examining evidence and information provided by Saudi Arabia and will take legal measures against those proven to be involved, in accordance with the investigation’s findings.

A military official familiar with the matter told Iranian state broadcaster IRIB that Tehran firmly denies any “connection to projectiles fired from other countries towards targets” in Saudi Arabia. “Attributing any action targeting US interests in the region to the Islamic Republic of Iran is a grave miscalculation and reflects a lack of understanding of the situation in the region,” the official said, as reported by IRIB.