AJ
⚡️ Saudi officially close East-West pipeline, say drones came from Iraq; Iraqi PM then fires the Armed Forces Chief
➡️ Multiple reports had already been circulating on Yemeni intel pages and Iranian media pages most of the day before CNN also commented that Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline had been struck by ‘projectiles’ on Thursday, citing two US officials.
🔹 An initial assessment found pumping stations alongside the pipeline had been hit, with one US official stating that the attack involved ‘drones from Iraq,’ but the extent of the damage and how long repairs could take was unclear due to officials still gathering intelligence on the attack.
🔹 Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry later confirmed it had temporarily closed the pipeline as a ‘precautionary measure’ after several attacks on the pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions on Thursday, noting that the attacks also resulted in several injuries.
🔹 A senior Saudi official then allegedly told the WSJ that the attack had originated from Iraq that had targeted the pipelines.
🔹 Saudi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in a published statement late in the evening that ‘several UAVs launched from Iraq’ had targeted the pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions, acknowledging casualties and material damage had occurred as a result of the strike.
🔹 According to the statement, Saudi chose not to retaliate against the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and instead called on Iraq to take necessary measures to prevent strikes launched from Iraq territory towards neighbouring countries, following a request by Iraq’s Prime Minister Al al-Zaidi to Saudi Arabia.
🔹 The assessments in relation to the drone and discussions with Iraq came after ABC News reported that Saudi Arabia had signalled in recent days that it was prepared to launch a major military operation against the Houthis, even without US participation, noting that President Donald Trump had so far rejected direct US involvement, instead offering Saudi Arabia intelligence and targeting assistance.
🔹 Saudi Arabia are keen to retake territory the Saudi-backed PMF forces lost in Taiz and along the coast of the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and were pressing for US help on Thursday night to attack positions in Yemen in two phone calls placed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
🔹 During the discussions with the US, Saudi Arabia’s officials had also been in touch with Pakistan and Turkish officials, the Mecca Alliance, who had been meeting in Ankara on other matters, but Pakistan said the time to get involved was not now, and there were no plans for military action or support for Saudi Arabia in the current days or weeks.
🔹 Meanwhile, a Yemeni PLC official told WaPo they believed the Houthis had spent months preparing the offensive and were closely directed by Iranian personnel on the ground: “This is the first day that Iran really started winning the war,” said the official, who is part of Yemen’s Saudi-backed PLC Government.
🔹 Saudi-backed Yemeni forces withdrew during the Houthi advance on the western coast, the official said, stating his government had hoped the US would have struck the Houthis as they had in 2025, but the requests were being denied by the US President.
🔹 During the past six months, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia saw Iran take control of the Strait of Hormuz, causing disruptions on shipping flows for the country, along with an income disruption, which wasn’t helped when Iran’s IRGC and Houthis targeted Aramco facilities in the country, causing supply to be halted on several occasions.
🔹 Houthis then took control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and posed maritime embargoes on Saudi vessels; crude output fell to its lowest level since 1990; the East-West pipeline has been closed by alleged drone attacks by Iraqi militias; and the Mecca Defence Alliance with Pakistan and Turkiye has so far failed to come into effect, (only condemnations have so far been offered)./
