Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday it intercepted 10 drones and two cruise missiles, in three separate incidents, as Iran persists with retaliatory strikes in response to US-Israeli air raids.
The ministry's official spokesman, Maj Gen Turki Al Maliki, said one drone was shot down in the Eastern Province, two cruise missiles were intercepted over the central city of Al Kharj and nine other drones were shot after entering the kingdom’s airspace.
Iran has unleashed deadly retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf countries, home to several American military bases, in response to US and Israeli attacks that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who dominated theocratic power for decades.
Gulf states bore the brunt of the retaliation, despite previously announcing their airspace and territory would not be used against Iran.
Iran has not only attacked US assets in the region but also civilian facilities such as hotels and airports. Energy infrastructure in the Gulf was also targeted.
Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura was struck again on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said, two days after a drone attack on the complex shut the refinery.
Gen Al Malki said the latest attack was carried out by a drone and did not result in any damage. The refinery was also hit in a reported drone attack on Monday.
Ras Tanura hosts one of the world’s largest oil export terminals and a major refining plant. The port handles a significant share of Saudi crude exports, with cargoes typically heading to key markets in Europe and Asia, including China, Japan and South Korea.
Saudi Arabia and other regional Gulf oil producers, such as the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq, have been unable to move crude supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for oil and gas, since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday it controlled the strait and any ships seeking to pass through were at risk of damage from missiles or stray drones. Hundreds of ships have anchored on either side of the waterway as a precaution.
Ras Tanura sits on Saudi Arabia's eastern coast on the Gulf.
The kingdom's heavily fortified energy bases have previously come under attack, most notably in September 2019 when unprecedented barrage of drones and missiles on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants temporarily knocked out more than half of Saudi crude production and rattled global markets.
Ras Tanura was attacked by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis in 2021, in what Riyadh called a failed assault on global energy security.
Separately, the US State Department gave its non-emergency personnel and their families in Saudi Arabia and Oman permission to leave, the US embassies in the Gulf states said.
Oman, which has played a mediating role in talks between Washington and Tehran, has called for a ceasefire. Riyadh, meanwhile, has condemned Iranian missile salvos, including an attack near the US embassy in Riyadh that forced the mission to close on Tuesday.
In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, Saudi Arabia said it would “undertake all necessary measures to safeguard its national security and ensure the protection of its territory, as well as its citizens and residents”, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.
Life largely undisturbed
Many residents say daily life has been largely unaffected.
“We haven’t heard any explosions, especially here in Riyadh, because the city is so large,” a resident who gave his name as Anthony told The National. “We were asked only on Monday and Tuesday to work from home, and that applied to other companies as well. Otherwise, life continues as usual. Today, for example, we worked from the office.”
Rami, another resident of the capital, said: “We’re only seeing what’s happening on the news – nothing is felt here. We’re far from what’s going on.
“The only precaution we took was to buy some extra food supplies, just in case things worsened. We also used to go for a walk every day in the Diplomatic Quarter but we're avoiding that for now.” The US embassy in Riyadh is located in the Diplomatic Quarter, or DQ.
The six Gulf Arab states – Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait – import about 85 per cent of their food. Even Oman, considered the most self-sufficient of the six, still depends on imports for the bulk of its food supply.
