Saudi authorities said on Friday drones launched from Iraq led to the temporary closure of a crucial oil export route used to bypass the lockdown of the Strait of Hormuz.
Riyadh has increased its use of the East-West pipeline, which links Abqaiq, near the Gulf, to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, since the start of the Middle East war to bypass the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.
The Saudi foreign ministry condemned “the targeting of the East–West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions by several drones coming from Iraq, which caused human injuries and damage”.
“The pipeline was stopped as a precaution, and the attacks resulted in some injuries,” an energy ministry official told the SPA news agency earlier.
Satellite images from Copernicus Sentinel Data taken on Thursday showed black smoke billowing near Madina, along the general route of the East-West pipeline that carries Saudi oil to its Red Sea coast.
