{"id":613901,"date":"2026-09-12T14:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T14:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/613901\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T14:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T14:12:17","slug":"saudi-arabia-shuts-down-key-oil-pipeline-blaming-drones-from-iraq-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/613901\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia shuts down key oil pipeline, blaming drones from Iraq | Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabia has shut down a critical oil pipeline, accusing militants in Iraq of launching drone attacks on the export route being used to bypass the lockdown of the strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s largest \u2060crude oil exporter has increased its use of the 745-mile (1,200km) pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula, which links Abqaiq, near the Gulf, to the port of Yanbu, on the Red Sea, since the US-Israeli war against Iran<\/a> began.<\/p>\n

The Saudi foreign ministry condemned \u201cthe targeting of the East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions by several drones coming from Iraq<\/a>, which caused human injuries and damage\u201d.<\/p>\n

An energy ministry official told the SPA news agency earlier that the pipeline was \u201cstopped as a precaution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Baghdad is under mounting pressure to prevent militant groups, including those backed by Saudi Arabia\u2019s regional rival Iran, from launching attacks on Gulf countries from Iraqi soil.<\/p>\n

The US president, Donald Trump, said he believed Tehran was responsible for the aerial attack. \u201cI \u200cthink they \u200care, probably they are,\u201d Trump told reporters in \u200cDublin during a visit to Ireland.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Iraq\u2019s government confirmed the attacks were launched from its territory, and ordered an investigation. It condemned \u201cthe attacks targeting our brethren in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia\u201d, and the office of Iraqi prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, said the commander in charge of the southern province of Maysan had been dismissed.<\/p>\n

Satellite images from Copernicus Sentinel Data taken on Thursday showed black smoke billowing near Medina, along the general route of the East-West pipeline.<\/p>\n

Black smoke over an area of the East-West pipeline south of Medina. Photograph: European Union\/Copernicus Sentinel-3\/Reuters<\/p>\n

According to the International Energy Agency, Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea port at the pipeline\u2019s end have more than doubled since the war on erupted.<\/p>\n

The news comes as Yemen\u2019s Houthi forces<\/a> have captured the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab strait, expanding their control of the narrow waterway, one of the \u200bworld\u2019s vital shipping routes linking Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n

Oil prices climbed past $100 a barrel this week, while average US diesel prices topped $6 for the first time on Friday \u2013 a potential headache for Trump ahead of midterm elections.<\/p>\n

A failed attempt by the US and Israel to overthrow the Iranian regime this year has destabilised the Gulf, and Iran and its proxies have now tightened their grip over two crucial shipping routes \u2013 the strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

Trump said \u2060on Saturday \u2060that \u200beverything would \u201cwork out \u2060just fine\u201d when asked whether he \u2060could help \u200bmove \u200ctraffic \u200cthrough the strait \u200cof Hormuz in light of fresh concerns about Saudi \u200cArabia.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything will work out \u200bjust fine,\u201d Trump said, speaking in Dublin \u2060after meeting \u200bIrish president, \u200bCatherine Connolly.<\/p>\n

But Iran\u2019s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking on the sidelines of a developing nations Brics summit in India, said the Middle East did not need the US to be a \u201cregional policeman\u201d.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia has previously accused Tehran-backed Iraqi militias of targeting its oil infrastructure. It said the kingdom \u201creserves the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, its security, its facilities\u201d and its people.<\/p>\n

Bahrain, Jordan and Qatar also condemned the attack on the Saudi pipeline, while the Gulf Cooperation Council denounced \u201ca dangerous escalation and an unacceptable threat to the security of the Kingdom\u201d.<\/p>\n

Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced a maritime blockade in July against Saudi Arabia \u2013 which supports the Yemeni government \u2013 attacking its oil tankers in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

After taking control of the Yemeni Red Sea coast<\/a> on Friday, the Houthis said navigation through the Bab al-Mandab strait was \u201csafe\u201d for all but Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia has shut down a critical oil pipeline, accusing militants in Iraq of launching drone attacks on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-613901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}