RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s armed forces shot down dozens of drones on Saturday 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 Ministry of Defense posts on X showed the 62 drone attacks concentrated on the Kingdom’s Eastern Province — home to its major oil fields and refineries.
Most of the drones (51) were reported to have been intercepted and destroyed over the Eastern Province early Saturday morning. After a 14-hour lull, the drone strikes resumed, with 11 reported until midnight, according to information released by the defense ministry.
The latest figures bring the total number of drone strikes targeting Saudi Arabia to almost 586 since February 28, an Arab News tally based on defense ministry and Saudi Press reports showed.
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 extended 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.
Bahrain said 143 missiles and 242 drones have been destroyed since start of Iranian attacks.
The Jordanian army on Saturday said that 36 Iranian missiles and drones have targeted the country’s territory during the third week of the war.
The UAE said they have engaged three ballistic missiles and eight drones launched from Iran on Saturday.
UAE air defenses have intercepted and destroyed 341 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,748 UAVs since the Iranian attacks started.
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.
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.
