Saudi Arabia intercepts drones launched by Iran-backed groups in Iraq targeting petroleum facilities, says defence ministry.
RIYADH: The Saudi defence ministry said on Monday that its forces had intercepted and destroyed several drones launched by Iran-backed groups in Iraq targeting petroleum facilities.
The incident comes despite a brief halt in recent fighting between the US and Iran since Saturday, following 13 days of exchanges of fire between the two sides.
The Saudi ministry said the “terrorist attempts were launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iranian-backed terrorist militias”, according to an official statement posted on social media.
The defence ministry said the drones were targeting areas in the country’s east and the capital Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia demanded that Iraq prevent its territory from being used to launch attacks.
The kingdom “affirms the necessity for the Iraqi government to take all necessary measures to ensure the prevention of the use of its territory as a launching point for aggression”, read a statement posted by an official Saudi broadcaster.
Pro-Iran armed groups based in Iraq have not claimed any attacks in Iraq or the region since the resumption of hostilities between the US and Iran earlier this month.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations had accused pro-Iran militias in Iraq of launching waves of attacks targeting their territory during the earlier phase of the conflict.
The latest incident comes as Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have traded strikes in recent days, with the Houthis announcing the imposition of a naval blockade on the kingdom’s ports.
