RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s air defenses neutralized a fresh wave of drone attacks on Sunday, the Ministry of Defense announced, as Iranian strikes on Gulf states showed no signs of abating despite Tehran’s conciliatory gestures a day earlier.
Ministry spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki said in posts on X that 13 drones were intercepted and destroyed east of Riyadh, while eight more were shot down shortly after entering Saudi airspace.
Sunday’s attacks follow a relentless barrage on Saturday in which the Kingdom’s air defenses intercepted and destroyed 21 drones headed toward Aramco’s Shaybah oil field deep in the Rub’ al-Khali desert, as well as five ballistic missiles fired at various times during the day.
Also on Saturday, Saudi defenses intercepted five ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj, an important industrial zone approximately 80 kilometers southeast of Riyadh. It was the third attempted strike in three consecutive days on the base. A single drone was also intercepted east of Riyadh.
The Shaybah attack on Saturday was the first on the vital facility since Feb. 28, when Israel and the United States launched a massive air campaign against Iran, triggering a wave of retaliatory strikes by Tehran across the Gulf region.
The persistent attacks came despite Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issuing a public apology on Saturday to Gulf neighbors, saying Tehran would halt strikes unless attacks against Iran originated from their territory. “I personally apologize to the neighboring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions,” he said in a televised address.
However, Iran’s armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi sought to qualify the pledge, saying Iran would avoid targeting neighboring countries only unless their territory was used to launch attacks against Iran — a caveat that left regional officials questioning whether the apology signaled a genuine effort to de-escalate or simply a shift in messaging while military operations continued.
The sincerity of this diplomatic overture has been met with skepticism as air defense sirens continue to wail across the Gulf. In the UAE, debris from a mid-air destruction caused minor damage to a building facade in Dubai Marina, though no injuries occurred.
The situation remains more volatile in Bahrain, where the Interior Ministry reported that an intercepted attack caused a fire in the capital, Manama, damaging a residential home and nearby structures. King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa reaffirmed the kingdom’s commitment to peace and coexistence but emphasized the necessity of maintaining regional stability against persistent threats.
Inside the Kingdom, the focus remains on protecting civilian and industrial hubs. Major General Al-Maliki highlighted that the recent missile threats were the third attempted strikes in three consecutive days on Al-Kharj, an important industrial zone located 80 kilometers southeast of Riyadh. On Friday alone, five missiles and multiple drones were shot down across the Eastern Province and the capital region.
The international community has responded with a mix of condemnation and warnings. US President Donald Trump warned via social media that Iran would be “hit very hard” in response to the aggression. Meanwhile, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), following an extraordinary meeting in Riyadh, affirmed the collective right of member states to defend their territories against what they termed “treacherous Iranian aggression.”
