RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense has launched a service enabling citizens and residents to report suspicious aerial sightings, including drones and missiles, through the Tawakkalna app, amid an ongoing Iranian campaign of strikes against Gulf states.
Ministry spokesperson Major General Turki Al-Maliki described the initiative as a “qualitative leap” in engaging the public in national security, adding that Saudi Arabia’s armed forces possess the capabilities needed to counter any aerial attack on the Kingdom.
The service comes days after Iran began striking military, industrial and other targets across the Gulf in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks inside Iran. The US and Israel launched the strikes on February 28 following the collapse of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program initiated by US President Donald Trump.
Saudi air defenses have since intercepted an estimated 200 drones and more than 30 missiles. Neighboring Gulf states have reported higher tolls — Bahrain alone said it intercepted 125 missiles and 203 drones, with the attacks killing two people there and 24 others across the region. The UAE reported engaging 294 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,600 drones, recording six fatalities.
Iranian strikes have followed a pattern of nightly attacks interspersed with daytime lulls.
Earlier Saturday, Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, sought to deflect blame from Tehran, sharing a notice attributed to Iran’s military command claiming that “the enemy” was deploying drones disguised as Iranian-made Shahed drones under the name “Lucas drone.”
The claim was met with widespread skepticism, given that Iran’s military had openly threatened Gulf states with strikes on non-US assets.
