Saudi Arabia has faced missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, drone attacks by Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite militias and renewed threats from Tehran over the past week. In response, Saudi warplanes joined the United States in pre-dawn airstrikes on multiple militia targets in eastern Iraq on Tuesday. The Saudi Defence Ministry said Riyadh did not seek to complicate the situation or escalate conflict, but would not hesitate to respond appropriately to aggression.

The Houthis recently struck two Saudi oil facilities on the Red Sea coast, causing extensive damage at a site near Jazan, according to the report. They also attacked two tankers in an effort to obstruct Saudi shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. With the Strait of Hormuz disrupted after the Iran conflict, Saudi Arabia has been forced to increase oil exports through Red Sea ports such as Yanbu, leaving 75 percent of its exports exposed to Houthi attacks.

The PMF militia alliance claimed that at least 20 people were killed and many wounded in the joint strikes. US Central Command said the operation responded to more than 30 drone attacks launched from IRGC-controlled areas against US forces deployed in Saudi Arabia. Analysts warned that a wider conflict would be costly and risky for Riyadh, which is facing its largest budget deficit since 2018 in the first three quarters of this year.