Saudi says drones launched from Iraq hit oil pipeline

Saudi Arabia said Friday drones launched from Iraq hit the East-West pipeline and led to its closure.

Riyadh has since the start of the Middle East war increased its use of this pipeline, which links Abqaiq, near the Gulf, to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, in order to bypass the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

The Saudi foreign ministry condemned "the targeting of the East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions by several drones coming from Iraq, which caused human injuries and damage".

"The pipeline was stopped as a precaution, and the attacks resulted in some injuries," an energy ministry official told the SPA news agency earlier.

"At the request of the Iraqi prime minister... (Riyadh) has chosen not to respond at this stage and to support the efforts of the Iraqi government ... to prevent attacks launched from Iraq against the Kingdom and neighbouring countries," the foreign ministry said.

But it stressed that Saudi Arabia "reserves the right to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty, its security, its facilities," and its inhabitants.

The office of Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced the dismissal of the commander in charge of the southern Maysan province following the "confirmation that the attacks targeting our brethren in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia originated from a location within the governorate".