Saudi Arabia announced on Friday evening that unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) originating from Iraq were responsible for Thursday’s attack on the East-West oil pipeline, which was temporarily shut down as a result of these attacks.
In its statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that it had chosen not to retaliate at this stage, at the request of the Iraqi prime minister. However, Riyadh reserves the right to take all necessary measures to safeguard the country’s national sovereignty and security, as well as its critical infrastructure.
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The Houthis attacked airports in Saudi Arabia
For its part, Iraq welcomed Saudi Arabia’s decision to delay retaliation for the attack on the Eastby unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Iraqi territory.
Baghdad condemned the attacks, which threaten Saudi Arabia’s security, and noted that Iraq’s prime minister has ordered an investigation to identify those responsible, according to a statement from the country’s armed forces.
The Iraqi government will cooperate with friendly and allied countries to prevent the recurrence of such attacks, state media also reported.
Reports of multiple casualties
Earlier, Saudi Arabian state media, citing the Ministry of Energy, reported that many people were injured in these attacks.
According to the report, the pipeline is one of Saudi Arabia’s most important energy arteries, as it connects the oil-producing regions in the east of the country with facilities on the Red Sea, providing an alternative route for transporting crude oil.
It should be noted that earlier, according to a post by the Iran Flash News account on X, satellite data raises suspicions that Yemen’s Houthis may have directly struck the pipeline in the desert, southeast of Medina.
The post cites images from the European Sentinel-3 satellite, which reportedly show a large plume of smoke rising above the pipeline’s route, in the area between Medina and the city of Mahd adh Dhahab.
At the same time, data from NASA’s FIRMS system reportedly detect a large fire at the same location. The thermal anomalies are concentrated in an area less than 10 kilometers wide, while the fire’s radiated power is estimated at more than 70 megawatts. According to the same source, this intensity is more than double that of a typical fire.
The East–West pipeline, also known as Petroline, transports crude oil from Abqaiq, in eastern Saudi Arabia, to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. It is the kingdom’s primary overland alternative route for oil exports that bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: Proto Thema
