Saudi Arabia Joins US Strikes on Iran-Backed Militias in Iraq After 3-Front Attack
- Saudi Arabia carried out joint strikes with the US against Iranian proxy militias in Iraq after suffering drone attacks from multiple directions
- The Abqaiq oil facility, which was hit in a landmark 2019 attack, was struck again on Monday by drones fired from Iraqi militias
- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman now faces a sharp choice between continued military retaliation and pursuing a diplomatic de-escalation
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Saudi Arabia has joined the United States in striking Iranian-backed paramilitary groups in Iraq, marking a significant escalation in its involvement in a conflict that has been reshaping the Middle East since the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran on 28 February.
The kingdom had spent months trying to stay on the sidelines of the war. That position became untenable after drone and missile attacks hit Saudi territory from Iraq to the north, Yemen to the south, and threats in the Red Sea to the west.
Source: Getty Images
Abqaiq Hit Again
Satellite images captured on Monday showed fresh damage to the Abqaiq oil facility in eastern Saudi Arabia, struck by drones attributed to the Popular Mobilisation Forces, Iran-backed paramilitary groups operating in Iraq. The same facility was targeted in September 2019, when a drone assault knocked out roughly half of Saudi Arabia's daily oil exports for several days, an attack that exposed how vulnerable the kingdom's critical infrastructure was to relatively low-cost weapons.
The Houthis in Yemen, who have been allied with Iran since taking control of large parts of that country in 2014, have added further pressure. After Saudi forces bombed Sanaa airport on 13 July to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing, the Houthis retaliated by striking the Saudi regional airports at Abha and Jizan.
They have since begun targeting Saudi commercial shipping in the Red Sea, threatening passage through the Bab El Mandeb strait. That route had become vital to Riyadh after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in February, through which around 20 per cent of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas normally travels. Saudi Arabia responded at the time by diverting oil through its east-west pipeline to the Red Sea export terminal at Yanbu, pumping close to five million barrels per day. Houthi attacks on that corridor now threaten to close off that alternative as well.
Vision 2030 Under Threat
The timing is deeply uncomfortable for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose ambitious Vision 2030 programme aims to reduce the kingdom's dependence on oil revenues and build new industries capable of absorbing the large numbers of young Saudis entering the workforce each year.
The plan calls for foreign investment and major infrastructure projects, including data centres, all of which become far harder to deliver while the country absorbs sustained drone and missile attacks.
Saudi Arabia spent seven years attempting to defeat the Houthis militarily in Yemen without success. A fragile ceasefire reached in 2022, which reportedly involved financial payments to the group, has now effectively collapsed.
Riyadh is now weighing whether continued strikes serve as a credible deterrent against further attacks, or whether a negotiated settlement, potentially involving financial incentives to adversarial factions, offers a more realistic path to stability.
Source: Legit.ng
