Sources claim the attacks were tit-for-tat retaliation after Tehran targeted the kingdom, which hosts a major US military base
Saudi Arabia conducted covert strikes on Iran during the Middle East war, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
Neither Riyadh nor Tehran has officially acknowledged the attacks. Reuters could not independently confirm the targets or timing of the strikes, which would mark the first known direct Saudi military action on Iranian soil.
According to the report, the Royal Saudi Air Force launched “numerous, unpublicized” attacks on Iran in late March. One unnamed official described the strikes as tit-for-tat retaliation “for when Saudi [Arabia] was hit.”
Sources told the outlet that Saudi Arabia informed Iran in advance, and that the strikes were followed by intense diplomacy and threats of further retaliation. The backchannel contact reportedly helped produce an informal de-escalation deal that brought the attacks to a halt.
The arrangement reportedly took effect in the week before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United Arab Emirates also conducted covert strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks on UAE infrastructure in early April, shortly before the ceasefire announcement.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE both host major US military bases and have long relied on Washington’s security umbrella. Both countries have repeatedly come under missile and drone attacks as Iran retaliated against the US-Israeli campaign launched in late February.
The UAE adopted a more hawkish tone, condemning the strikes on its territory as a dangerous escalation and asserting its “right to respond,” as well as largely freezing public diplomacy with Iran and closing its embassy in Tehran.
Saudi Arabia, however, has tried to keep the conflict from spiraling further, reportedly maintaining regular contact with Iranian officials, including Iran’s ambassador in Riyadh.
A recent New York Times report also claimed that Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ – which involved military escorts for Western-flagged ships through the effectively blockaded Strait of Hormuz – was quietly scrapped two days after it was launched because Saudi Arabia refused to provide logistical support.
Analysts suggest that the Gulf states’ willingness to strike Iran themselves rather than relying on the US reflects growing frustration with Washington for leaving its regional partners exposed to Iranian retaliation and for lacking a long-term strategy.
”From the perspective of the Gulf states, it looks like the US is not prioritizing their security and basically threw the Gulf states under the bus,” Dania Thafer, the director of the Gulf International Forum, told the WSJ.
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