{"id":110888,"date":"2026-05-12T21:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/110888\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T21:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:58:12","slug":"saudi-arabia-covertly-launched-strikes-on-iran-during-war-sources-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/110888\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia covertly launched strikes on Iran during war, sources say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the war, two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials said.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Saudi\u00a0attacks, not previously reported, mark the first time that the kingdom is known to have directly carried out military action on\u00a0Iranian soil and show it is becoming much bolder in defending itself against its main\u00a0regional\u00a0rival.<\/p>\n

The attacks, launched by the Saudi Air Force, were assessed to have been carried out in late March, the two Western officials said. One said only that they were \u201ctit-for-tat strikes in retaliation for when Saudi [Arabia] was hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuters was unable to confirm what the specific targets were.<\/p>\n

In response to a request for comment, a senior Saudi foreign ministry official did not directly address whether strikes had been carried out.<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0Iranian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tForeign workers look at a tall plume of black smoke ascends following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026. (Fadel SENNA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia, which has a deep military relationship with the United States, has traditionally relied on the US military for protection, but the 10-week war has left the kingdom vulnerable to attacks that have pierced the US military umbrella.<\/p>\n

Since the war began, Iran has hit all six Gulf Cooperation Council states with missiles and drones, attacking not only US military bases but civilian sites, airports and oil infrastructure, and closed the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global trade.<\/p>\n

Gulf states<\/p>\n

This marks the second Gulf country to join the United States and Israel in their war against the Islamic Republic, after it was reported\u00a0that the United Arab Emirates also secretly carried out multiple military strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n

Citing \u201cpeople familiar with the matter,\u201d Bloomberg<\/a> reported on Tuesday that the UAE carried out strikes before and after the April 8 ceasefire.<\/p>\n

One of the strikes \u2014 a response to the April 5 Iran attack on the Emirati Borouge petrochemicals site \u2014 was \u201ccoordinated\u201d with Israel, Bloomberg said.<\/p>\n

According to one source, the two cooperated on Israel\u2019s attack on Iran\u2019s South Pars petrochemical complex the next day.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tThe Dubai skyline with the landmark Burj Khalifa skyscraper (R) is pictured as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates, on March 16, 2026. (AFP)<\/p>\n

Throughout the war, cooperation between the two countries included the sharing of intelligence, detection and interception of Iranian missiles and drones, and selecting Iranian targets, said the sources.<\/p>\n

During the US-Israel war on Iran, Tehran launched sustained attacks on the UAE, firing some 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 2,200 drones, according to the Emirati defense ministry, making it the most-targeted country in the region, including Israel.<\/p>\n

The UAE has not acknowledged any offensive strikes, but has repeatedly stressed its right to defend itself.<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal<\/a> reported earlier this week that the UAE had carried out an attack on Iran\u2019s Lavan Island.<\/p>\n

Israel sent an Iron Dome battery and soldiers to operate it to the UAE, American officials said this week, with Israel\u2019s envoy later confirming this.<\/p>\n

The UAE reported that likely Iranian attacks restarted over the past week in its territory, as Tehran appeared to be ramping up its strikes in the region despite the fragile ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Diplomacy during war<\/p>\n

Saudi\u00a0Arabia\u00a0has meanwhile sought to\u00a0prevent the conflict from escalating\u00a0and has stayed in regular contact with\u00a0Iran, including via Tehran\u2019s ambassador in Riyadh. He did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tThis UGC image posted on social media on March 29, 2026, and verified by AFP staff appears to show a destroyed US Air Force Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, primarily used for air traffic control, in the aftermath of a projectile strike at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia. (UGC \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

The senior Saudi foreign ministry official did not directly address whether a de-escalation agreement had been struck with Iran, but said: \u201cWe reaffirm Saudi Arabia\u2019s consistent position advocating de-escalation, self-restraint and the reduction of tensions in pursuit of the stability, security and prosperity of the region and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Iranian and Western officials said Saudi Arabia had made Iran aware of the strikes, and this was followed by intensive diplomatic engagement and Saudi threats to retaliate further, which led to an understanding between the two countries to de-escalate.<\/p>\n

Ali Vaez, the\u00a0Iran\u00a0Project Director at the International Crisis Group, said retaliatory\u00a0Saudi\u00a0strikes on\u00a0Iran, followed by an understanding to de-escalate, would \u201cshow pragmatic recognition on both sides that uncontrolled escalation carries unacceptable costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such a sequence of events would show \u201cnot trust, but a shared interest in imposing limits on confrontation before it spiraled into a wider\u00a0regional\u00a0conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

The informal de-escalation took effect in the week before Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in their broader conflict on April 7. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

One of the\u00a0Iranian officials confirmed that Tehran and Riyadh had agreed to de-escalate, saying the move aimed to \u201ccease hostilities, safeguard mutual interests, and prevent the escalation of tensions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long at odds, Iran and Saudi Arabia \u2014 the two leading Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East \u2014 have backed opposing groups in conflicts across the region.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tScreen capture from video purporting to show smoke billowing from the Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone strike, March 2, 2026. (X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)<\/p>\n

A China-brokered d\u00e9tente in 2023 saw them resume ties, including a ceasefire between the\u00a0Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and\u00a0Saudi\u00a0Arabia\u00a0that has since held.<\/p>\n

With the Red Sea remaining open to shipping, Saudi Arabia has been able to continue exporting oil throughout the conflict, unlike most Gulf states, and so has managed to remain relatively insulated.<\/p>\n

Avoided \u2018furnace of destruction\u2019<\/p>\n

In an op-ed in Saudi-owned Arab News over the weekend, former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal captured the kingdom\u2019s calculus, writing that \u201cwhen Iran and others tried to drag the kingdom into the furnace of destruction, our leadership chose to endure the pains caused by a neighbor in order to protect the lives and property of its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saudi\u00a0Arabia\u2019s strikes followed weeks of mounting tension.<\/p>\n

At a press conference in Riyadh on March 19,\u00a0Saudi\u00a0Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the kingdom \u201creserved the right to take military actions if deemed necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three days later, Saudi Arabia declared Iran\u2019s military attach\u00e9 and four embassy staff members personae non grata.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, shakes hands with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan during their meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 10, 2025. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)<\/p>\n

By the end of March, diplomatic contacts and the threat by\u00a0Saudi\u00a0Arabia\u00a0to take a more hawkish approach akin to the UAE and retaliate further led to an understanding to de-escalate, the Western\u00a0sources\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

From more than 105 drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia in the week of March 25-31, the number fell to just over 25 between April 1-6, according to a Reuters tally of Saudi defense ministry statements.<\/p>\n

Projectiles fired at\u00a0Saudi\u00a0Arabia\u00a0in the days leading up to the wider ceasefire were assessed by Western\u00a0sources\u00a0to have originated in Iraq rather than\u00a0Iran\u00a0itself, indicating Tehran had curtailed direct strikes while allied groups continued to operate.<\/p>\n

Saudi\u00a0Arabia\u00a0summoned Iraq\u2019s ambassador on April 12 to protest against\u00a0attacks\u00a0from Iraqi soil.<\/p>\n

The Saudi-Iranian communication continued even as strains emerged at the start of the broader ceasefire between Iran and the US, when the Saudi defense ministry reported 31 drones and 16 missiles fired at the kingdom on April 7-8.<\/p>\n

The spike prompted Riyadh to consider retaliation against\u00a0Iran\u00a0and Iraq, while Pakistan deployed fighter jets to reassure the kingdom and urged restraint as diplomacy gathered pace.<\/p>\n

Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, on February 28 to degrade the Iranian regime\u2019s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran \u2014 including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs \u2014 and \u201ccreate the conditions\u201d for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.<\/p>\n

The ceasefire declared by Trump in April came with the core declared goals of the war unfulfilled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[27587,29396,13130,2344,37,30065,50,38255],"class_list":{"0":"post-110888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-2026-us-israel-war-with-iran","9":"tag-iran-uae-relations","10":"tag-iran-saudi-arabia-relations","11":"tag-iron-dome","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-israel-uae-relations","14":"tag-saudi-arabia","15":"tag-uae-military"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116563850447571302","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}