Saudi Arabia faces more frequent and increasingly accurate airstrikes as groups linked to Iran, neighboring Yemen and Iraq exploit persistent gaps in the kingdom’s defenses and the Biden administration reconsiders American approach to the region.
Fixed-wing drones loaded with explosives and launched from Iraq attacked the main royal complex in the Saudi capital Riyadh in a similar strike on January 23, according to US officials and others familiar with the incident.
Meanwhile, Houthi rebels, lined up in Iran, stepped up attacks on the kingdom’s southern border this month, including a strike last week that hit an empty passenger plane at a provincial airport. They have also launched drones and missiles at a nearby military base and Jeddah International Airport, which the Saudi coalition, which fights Houthis in Yemen, said had been intercepted.
New disclosures about the incidents show the limits of Saudi Arabia’s defenses and the scope of the country’s enemies, although none of the incidents have resulted in significant casualties. Although the kingdom’s military capabilities have improved in recent years, current and former U.S. officials say Saudi Arabia still has a lot of work to do to better integrate its radars, Patriot batteries, short-range air defense weapons. range and F-15 aircraft in an effective defensive system.
They also point to the difficulties in curbing attacks by Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, which continue to pose a security threat despite votes by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to stop them.