Saudi Arabia carried out a series of undeclared strikes on Iran in late March in response to Tehran's missile and drone attacks on Saudi territory during the Middle East war, Reuters reported, citing two Western and two Iranian officials briefed on the developments.
According to the report, this is the first time that Riyadh is known to have directly taken military action on Iranian territory, a development that indicates a change in Saudi approach towards its biggest regional rival.
Reuters writes that the attacks were carried out by the Saudi Air Force in response to the strikes that Saudi Arabia had received during the regional conflict that erupted after the American-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28. The specific targets hit in Iran have not been made public.
According to sources, there were intensive diplomatic contacts between Tehran and Riyadh after the attacks, accompanied by Saudi warnings of further retaliation if tensions continued. This later led to an informal agreement to reduce tensions between the two countries.
The report shows that the war in the Middle East has been much broader than has been publicly acknowledged. During the conflict, Iran has fired missiles and drones at all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, targeting not only US bases but also airports, energy infrastructure and civilian facilities.
Reuters also writes that the United Arab Emirates has also carried out military attacks on Iran, while the Gulf monarchies, hit by Iranian attacks, have begun to respond militarily to Tehran.
However, the Saudi approach has been more cautious than that of the Emirates. Saudi Arabia has continued diplomatic contacts with Iran and has sought to avoid an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict.
According to the report, following the informal de-escalation agreement, the number of Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia dropped significantly in the week before the broader ceasefire between Iran and the US reached on April 7.
