On September 11, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Energy announced the decision to temporarily suspend the operation of two sections of the Trans-Arabic strategic oil pipeline in the area near Riyadh and Medina city as an emergency precautionary measure after many attacks.
A spokesman for the ministry said that the incidents have injured some people and are currently receiving timely medical care. Emergency response teams were immediately deployed to blockade and inspect the scene according to safety procedures, in the context of dense black smoke columns and fires erupting at the hit points.
On the same day, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry issued a statement affirming that these energy infrastructure attack drones were launched from inside Iraqi territory.
Riyadh emphasized that, at the direct request of the Iraqi Prime Minister, the kingdom should temporarily exercise restraint and not conduct military retaliatory strikes to create conditions for the Baghdad government to implement measures to prevent armed groups from taking advantage of territory to attack across the border. However, Riyadh affirmed that it reserves full authority to take all appropriate actions to protect national sovereignty, security and key facilities.
On the Iraqi side, the country's government welcomed Saudi Arabia's restraint, resolutely condemned the actions threatening the security of the neighboring country and directed the armed forces to open an emergency investigation into the related subjects.
Meanwhile, the Houthi forces in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attacks, but US intelligence sources do not rule out the possibility that drones are deployed by pro-Iranian armed groups from Iraq.
The East-West pipeline is about 1,200km long, with a designed capacity of up to 7 million barrels of oil per day. This is a vital strategic infrastructure to help Saudi Arabia transport crude oil directly from the kingdom's eastern fields to the port of Yanbu in the Red Sea, maintaining the energy export artery without having to go through the Strait of Hormuz.
