On July 28, Saudi air defenses shot down drones launched from Iraqi territory by “Iran-affiliated terrorist militias,” a Saudi ministry of defense statement read.
The attacks targeted oil facilities in the Eastern Province and at the capital, Riyadh, itself. Days earlier, Houthi forces in Yemen said they had hit “sensitive” oil transport sites linking the Eastern Province to the Red Sea export hub of Yanbu. Satellite images showed smoke over the kingdom's most important oil infrastructure.
Both attacks come amid a wider escalation that began with the Houthis’ declared naval blockade of Saudi ports, followed by strikes on several ships and an exchange of missile fire with the kingdom. The Houthis say they will lift the blockade only once Saudi Arabia ends what they call a “blockade” on Yemen; they also have separate financial demands, chiefly, a demand for public-sector salaries and a share of the revenue from Yemen oil industry, which is located in territory held by the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is now being squeezed from three directions in the widening U.S.-Iran war — Iraq to its northeast, Yemen to its southwest, and Iran to its east. (On July 18, Tehran struck Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh, its first direct hit on Saudi soil in nearly four months.)
To understand why this matters beyond the price of oil, it helps to picture the crises as a set of nesting dolls.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member