

Saudi Arabia and Iraq are caught in a hidden war within the war
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Iraqi militias backed by Iran launched dozens of explosive drones at Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states during more than five weeks of fighting, in what is becoming a shadowy war within a war pushing some of the world’s largest oil producers toward open conflict.According to at least one Saudi assessment described by a person familiar with it, up to half of the nearly 1,000 drone attacks on the kingdom came from inside Iraq. They included strikes on a Saudi refinery in the sensitive Yanbu oil hub on the Red Sea and oil fields in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, people familiar with the matter said.Drones launched from Iraq targeted Kuwait’s only civilian airport.
They also targeted Bahrain after President Trump announced a cease-fire earlier this month, some of the people said. Militias went after Gulf assets inside Iraq as well, including the Kuwaiti consulate in Basra and the United Arab Emirates’s consulate in Kurdistan.The conflict is unfolding in the shadow of the war the U.S.
and Israel launched against Iran in late February. Iran itself has fired thousands of drones and missiles at its Gulf Arab neighbors, as well as at Israel and U.S.
bases across the region.The militias in Iraq—along with Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, which fired rockets at Israel throughout the war—broadened Iran’s options for attacking its enemies and the amount of firepower it could rain down.The U.S. has warned the militias are planning more attacks and has told citizens to stay away from the embassy and consulates in Iraq.
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