Air strikes on Saudi Arabia expose US ally’s vulnerability

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, aligned with Iran, escalated attacks on the kingdom’s southern border this month, including an attack last week that hit an empty passenger jet at a provincial airport. They also launched drones and missiles at a nearby military base and Jeddah International Airport, which the Saudi coalition fighting Houthis in Yemen said was intercepted.

New disclosures about the incidents show the limits of Saudi Arabia’s defenses and the growing reach of the country’s enemies, although none of the incidents has produced significant casualties. Although the kingdom’s military capabilities have improved in recent years, current and former US officials say that Saudi Arabia still has a lot of work to do to better integrate its radars, Patriot batteries, short-range air defense cannons and F- jets 15 in an effective defensive system.

They also point to difficulties in containing attacks by Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, which continue to pose a security threat despite Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s votes to contain them.

A rocket attack on the United States-led coalition in northern Iraq on Monday killed one contractor, injured a US military and wounded five other contractors, four of whom are Americans. The attack, widely seen as an initial test for the Biden government, generated high-level briefings in Washington and links between American and Iraqi officials.

Biden is promoting a new initiative to end the civil war in Yemen and review billions of dollars in arms sales to Riyadh, and on Tuesday revoked the Houthis’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization. But the president also pledged to help Saudi Arabia, an important ally in the Middle East and a major arms buyer, defend its territory.

“We are not going to allow Saudi Arabia to be shot,” said Timothy Lenderking, Biden’s special envoy to Yemen, on Tuesday.

The January 23 drone attack on Riyadh, which US officials say was launched from southern Iraq, shows the increasing complexity of the dangers the kingdom faces, which include not only drones, but also ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. .

The Saudi coalition said in a statement that the military intercepted an air strike, but people familiar with the incident said the drones had indeed penetrated Saudi air defenses. At least one hit near the front gate of the al-Yamama palace, the seat of the Saudi government; a US official said a nearby helipad was also targeted.

In response to questions about the recent attacks, a Saudi official said the kingdom has witnessed an escalation of international attacks against civilian targets since the arrival of Iran’s new ambassador to Yemen last year.

“The US decision to revoke the Houthis’ terrorist designation was misinterpreted by them as a license to scale and continue their barbaric behavior within Yemen and the region with the support of Iran,” the official said in a written statement.

Iranian officials, who have repeatedly denied that they control the Houthis or that they have sponsored attacks through other groups, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Houthis claimed credit for some of the attacks, but denied involvement in others.

On Tuesday, Saudi coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said the escalation of the attacks was orchestrated by generals from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps based in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The coalition has recorded 860 attacks by armed drones and ballistic missiles against Saudi Arabia by the Houthis since Riyadh intervened in the Yemen civil war in 2015.

The Saudi king and crown prince were not present at the time of the attack on the palace on 23 January, but flights were diverted from Riyadh international airport for several hours.

A desert camp used by the royal family was also targeted, the US official said, although the attack may have failed.

A previously unknown Shiite militant group in Iraq, calling itself the Fair Promise Brigades, has taken responsibility, although American officials say the group is a front for more established Iran-backed militias.

“These groups have no real past stories,” said Ramzy Mardini, an associate at the Pearson Institute at the University of Chicago, who studies conflict resolution. “The statement of your training corresponds to taking responsibility for an attack that has already occurred. It is possible that its members are recycled from pre-existing groups of the Iranian-backed Iraqi militia, but that they do not exist significantly outside the digital world. “

In a statement about the attack, the Righteous Promise Brigades accused Saudi Arabia of supporting Islamic State, which carried out two suicide bombings in Baghdad days earlier, and warned that it could also attack the United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Mardini noted that the group also said the attack was “launched exclusively by Iraqi hands”, which he said was an attempt to deflect Iran or Houthis’ suspicions in Yemen.

The Saudi coalition attributed the attack to the Houthis, who denied any responsibility.

Days later, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman revealed his vision of developing Riyadh and more than double the population; no mention was made of the security challenges the city faces.

It was the first time that Saudi Arabia is known to have been targeted by Iraq in the north since May 2019, when drones that U.S. officials say were controlled by an Iran-backed militia damaged a large pipeline that spanned hundreds of years. kilometers in the Saudi desert. In September 2019, a drone and missile attack that U.S. intelligence claims to have been mounted by Iran temporarily weakened Saudi Arabia’s oil industry.

“Iraq as a launch pad is a major challenge for the Saudis,” said Michael Knights, senior researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It is the third front for the Saudis and the one they have the most difficulty dealing with. They are not configured so far to be able to plug the three holes. “

Drones are an inherently difficult target to detect because they fly low and are pneumatically triggered, leaving little visible launch signature. The Houthis also used drones to map where Saudi Patriot missile batteries are located, so they can orchestrate future attacks around them, said a former US official.

Saudi air defenses facing east towards Iran are the oldest and most well-established, said Knights, while those facing south towards Yemen have the most skilled operators dealing with daily bombings for the past six years.

“So, the poor cousin is still facing north,” he said. “It is the one through which the bandits manage to feed their drones.”

—Gordon Lubold in Washington contributed to this article.

Write to Stephen Kalin at [email protected], Michael R. Gordon at [email protected] and Warren P. Strobel at [email protected]