RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s armed forces shot down dozens of drones in the first few hours of Saturday morning as Iran intensified strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure following Israel’s bombing of Iran’s South Pars gas field earlier this week.
A series of Saudi defense ministry posts on X showed the 51 drone attacks concentrated on the Kingdom’s Eastern Province — home to its major oil fields and refineries. A total of 92 drones have been intercepted since Friday.
The latest figures bring the total number of drone strikes targeting Saudi Arabia to at least 575 since February 28, according to a tally based on defense ministry reports.
In addition to the drones, Saudi air defenses have intercepted 42 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles over the same period, underscoring the sustained and varied nature of the aerial campaign against the kingdom.
The strikes extend across the Gulf.
Kuwait’s military said its air defense systems were responding to a missile and drone attack on Saturday.
“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently responding to hostile missile and drone threats,” an army statement said.
Successful interceptions
Bahrain said 143 missiles and 242 drones have been destroyed since start of Iranian attacks.
UAE’s ministry of defense said early Saturday morning that air defenses were “currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran” and the sounds heard were successful interceptions.
Heavy explosions shook Dubai on Friday as residents celebrated Eid Al-Fitr. The UAE’s Ministry of Defense reported intercepting 26 drones and four ballistic missiles that day, bringing cumulative totals since February 28 to 1,740 drones, 338 ballistic missiles, and 15 cruise missiles.
In Kuwait, two drone waves struck the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery — one of the Middle East’s largest, with a capacity of 730,000 barrels per day — sparking fires a day after it was first hit. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry also reported a warehouse fire from intercepted projectile shrapnel.
Ballistic missile production
US and Israeli leaders claim weeks of strikes have gutted Iran’s military, killing its supreme leader, top security officials, and much of its senior command. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Thursday that Iran’s navy was sunk, its air force crippled, and its ballistic missile production destroyed.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard pushed back, with spokesman Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini insisting production continued uninterrupted. “We are producing missiles even during war conditions,” he said, adding Iran had no intention of seeking a quick end to the conflict.
Shortly after, Iranian state television reported Naeini was killed in an airstrike.
New Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei — who rose to power after his father was killed in an Israeli strike on the war’s first day — issued a rare statement warning that Iran’s enemies must have their “security” taken away.
