Saudi Arabia covertly launched strikes on Iran during war, sources say

Strikes were ‘tit-for-tat’ for Iranian attacks on kingdom; UAE, which similarly struck Islamic Republic before and after truce, said to have coordinated at least one attack with Israel

Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the war, two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials said.

The Saudi attacks, not previously reported, mark the first time that the kingdom is known to have directly carried out military action on Iranian soil and show it is becoming much bolder in defending itself against its main regional rival.

The attacks, launched by the Saudi Air Force, were assessed to have been carried out in late March, the two Western officials said. One said only that they were “tit-for-tat strikes in retaliation for when Saudi [Arabia] was hit.”

Reuters was unable to confirm what the specific targets were.

In response to a request for comment, a senior Saudi foreign ministry official did not directly address whether strikes had been carried out.

The Iranian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Saudi Arabia, which has a deep military relationship with the United States, has traditionally relied on the US military for protection, but the 10-week war has left the kingdom vulnerable to attacks that have pierced the US military umbrella.

Since the war began, Iran has hit all six Gulf Cooperation Council states with missiles and drones, attacking not only US military bases but civilian sites, airports and oil infrastructure, and closed the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global trade.

Gulf states

This marks the second Gulf country to join the United States and Israel in their war against the Islamic Republic, after it was reported that the United Arab Emirates also secretly carried out multiple military strikes on Iran.

Citing “people familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the UAE carried out strikes before and after the April 8 ceasefire.

One of the strikes — a response to the April 5 Iran attack on the Emirati Borouge petrochemicals site — was “coordinated” with Israel, Bloomberg said.

According to one source, the two cooperated on Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars petrochemical complex the next day.

Throughout the war, cooperation between the two countries included the sharing of intelligence, detection and interception of Iranian missiles and drones, and selecting Iranian targets, said the sources.

During the US-Israel war on Iran, Tehran launched sustained attacks on the UAE, firing some 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and more than 2,200 drones, according to the Emirati defense ministry, making it the most-targeted country in the region, including Israel.

The UAE has not acknowledged any offensive strikes, but has repeatedly stressed its right to defend itself.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that the UAE had carried out an attack on Iran’s Lavan Island.

Israel sent an Iron Dome battery and soldiers to operate it to the UAE, American officials said this week, with Israel’s envoy later confirming this.

The UAE reported that likely Iranian attacks restarted over the past week in its territory, as Tehran appeared to be ramping up its strikes in the region despite the fragile ceasefire.

Diplomacy during war

Saudi Arabia has meanwhile sought to prevent the conflict from escalating and has stayed in regular contact with Iran, including via Tehran’s ambassador in Riyadh. He did not respond to a request for comment.

The senior Saudi foreign ministry official did not directly address whether a de-escalation agreement had been struck with Iran, but said: “We reaffirm Saudi Arabia’s consistent position advocating de-escalation, self-restraint and the reduction of tensions in pursuit of the stability, security and prosperity of the region and its people.”

The Iranian and Western officials said Saudi Arabia had made Iran aware of the strikes, and this was followed by intensive diplomatic engagement and Saudi threats to retaliate further, which led to an understanding between the two countries to de-escalate.

Ali Vaez, the Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group, said retaliatory Saudi strikes on Iran, followed by an understanding to de-escalate, would “show pragmatic recognition on both sides that uncontrolled escalation carries unacceptable costs.”

Such a sequence of events would show “not trust, but a shared interest in imposing limits on confrontation before it spiraled into a wider regional conflict.”

The informal de-escalation took effect in the week before Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in their broader conflict on April 7. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

One of the Iranian officials confirmed that Tehran and Riyadh had agreed to de-escalate, saying the move aimed to “cease hostilities, safeguard mutual interests, and prevent the escalation of tensions.”

Long at odds, Iran and Saudi Arabia — the two leading Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East — have backed opposing groups in conflicts across the region.

A China-brokered détente in 2023 saw them resume ties, including a ceasefire between the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia that has since held.

With the Red Sea remaining open to shipping, Saudi Arabia has been able to continue exporting oil throughout the conflict, unlike most Gulf states, and so has managed to remain relatively insulated.

Avoided ‘furnace of destruction’

In an op-ed in Saudi-owned Arab News over the weekend, former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal captured the kingdom’s calculus, writing that “when Iran and others tried to drag the kingdom into the furnace of destruction, our leadership chose to endure the pains caused by a neighbor in order to protect the lives and property of its citizens.”

Saudi Arabia’s strikes followed weeks of mounting tension.

At a press conference in Riyadh on March 19, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the kingdom “reserved the right to take military actions if deemed necessary.”

Three days later, Saudi Arabia declared Iran’s military attaché and four embassy staff members personae non grata.

By the end of March, diplomatic contacts and the threat by Saudi Arabia to take a more hawkish approach akin to the UAE and retaliate further led to an understanding to de-escalate, the Western sources said.

From more than 105 drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia in the week of March 25-31, the number fell to just over 25 between April 1-6, according to a Reuters tally of Saudi defense ministry statements.

Projectiles fired at Saudi Arabia in the days leading up to the wider ceasefire were assessed by Western sources to have originated in Iraq rather than Iran itself, indicating Tehran had curtailed direct strikes while allied groups continued to operate.

Saudi Arabia summoned Iraq’s ambassador on April 12 to protest against attacks from Iraqi soil.

The Saudi-Iranian communication continued even as strains emerged at the start of the broader ceasefire between Iran and the US, when the Saudi defense ministry reported 31 drones and 16 missiles fired at the kingdom on April 7-8.

The spike prompted Riyadh to consider retaliation against Iran and Iraq, while Pakistan deployed fighter jets to reassure the kingdom and urged restraint as diplomacy gathered pace.

Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, on February 28 to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.

The ceasefire declared by Trump in April came with the core declared goals of the war unfulfilled.