More than a day after the joint U.S.-Saudi strike against pro-Iranian militias, two officials from Gulf countries told Reuters that Yemen's Houthi rebels were the ones who attacked Saudi Arabia from Iraq, not Iran. Meanwhile, Yemen reported another attack against Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening.
The officials said they were basing their assessment on Saudi evaluations that the Houthis carried out the attacks in coordination with terrorists affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian regime. They added that the attacks in Saudi Arabia damaged oil facilities in the Eastern Province, where the kingdom's main crude oil hub is located.
Saudi Arabia and the United States carried out a joint strike overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday. According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the strikes were launched in response to Iranian fire toward a U.S. base in Jordan, which was launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from Iranian territory. Jordan said it had successfully intercepted the missiles.
The strike targeted pro-Iranian militias responsible for launches against U.S. forces in the region as well as energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. CENTCOM said aircraft from both countries precisely struck several terrorist targets in eastern Iraq, including weapons sites and logistical facilities, in response to "more than 30 IRGC-directed drone attacks over the past 72 hours."
The New York Times later reported that about 20 Iranian advisers, some IRGC personnel and some technical advisers, were killed in the strikes. A U.S. official said the targets hit that night in Iraq were intentionally bombed both to damage them and to harm the ability of pro-Iranian militias to launch missiles and drones.
The coffins of Revolutionary Guards terrorists killed in the attack
According to the Reuters report, the Houthis later claimed responsibility for the attacks on Saudi territory, contrary to official reports. However, the Houthis also "admitted" that they had managed to attack from Iraqi territory with the assistance of militias. Iraqi authorities said the matter was under investigation.
"There is now direct training and coordination between members of the 'Axis of Resistance' (the Houthis and other members of terrorist organisations) themselves, not just between them and Iran," said Farea al-Muslimi, a researcher in the Middle East and North Africa program at the Chatham House research institute. Other analysts told Reuters that "the attacks also show the increasingly important role Iraq is playing as a node in that axis after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the severe weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon."
The analysts also said that Iraq is "useful" to the Houthis and Iran-aligned terrorist organizations because of its location in the Gulf and the open spaces that allow them to hide easily. They noted that Iraq and Saudi Arabia share a border of more than 800 kilometers, making it difficult for the Saudis to secure its entire length and turning Iraq, according to the analysts, into an ideal launch point.
Documentation of the US-Saudi attacks in Iraq
The coordinated attack from Iraqi territory took place amid a struggle for influence between the United States and Iran, once again highlighting the regional importance of the republic in Southwest Asia, which often remains outside the focus of mainstream discussion.
Iraq, led by its new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, is facing growing pressure from two directions. The first comes from the United States, which is demanding the disarmament of the pro-Iranian militias in the country that are accused of attacking Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this month, the Iraqi government said it would give Iranian-aligned Iraqi militias until September 30 to hand over their weapons to the state, alongside the end of the U.S.-led international coalition's operations in Iraq against Islamic State. Some militias have long justified their refusal to disarm by pointing to the continued presence of the coalition in the country.