Saudi Arabia secretly attacked Iran

Saudi Arabia has carried out numerous, covert attacks on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the Middle East war, two Western officials familiar with the matter and two Iranian officials told Reuters.

The Saudi attacks, which were not previously reported, mark the first known instance of the kingdom directly taking military action on Iranian territory and show that it is becoming significantly more assertive in its defense against its main regional rival.

The attacks, carried out by the Saudi air force, are estimated by Western officials to have taken place in late March. One of them said only that they were "retaliatory strikes, in retaliation for cases where Saudi Arabia was hit."

Reuters could not confirm which specific targets were hit.

Responding to a request for comment, a senior Saudi Foreign Ministry official did not directly answer the question of whether the attacks had been carried out.

Iran's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Saudi Arabia, which has deep military ties with the United States, has traditionally relied on the American military for protection, but the 10-week war has left the country vulnerable to attacks that have breached the American military shield.

Gulf Arab states began to fight back

The Saudi attacks highlight the spread of the conflict - and the extent to which the Middle East has been drawn into the war, which began when the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran on February 28, in ways that have not been publicly acknowledged.

Since the US and Israeli strikes, Iran has fired missiles and drones at all six Gulf Cooperation Council states, attacking not only US military bases but also civilian facilities, airports and oil infrastructure, and closed the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global trade.

The United Arab Emirates has also launched military strikes against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Together, the Saudi and Emirati actions reveal a conflict whose true form has remained largely hidden — one in which Gulf monarchies, hit by Iranian attacks, have begun to strike back.

However, their approach was not the same. The UAE took a harder line, seeking to make Iran pay a price and only rarely engaging in public diplomacy with Tehran.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has sought to prevent the conflict from escalating and has remained in regular contact with Iran, including through Tehran's ambassador in Riyadh.

Attacks, then de-escalation

Iranian and Western officials said Saudi Arabia informed Iran of the attacks, followed by intense diplomatic contacts and Saudi threats of further retaliation, leading to an informal agreement between the two countries to de-escalate.

Ali Vaez, director of the Iran project at the International Crisis Group, said that Saudi retaliatory strikes on Iran, followed by a de-escalation agreement, “would demonstrate a pragmatic recognition by both sides that uncontrolled escalation carries unacceptable costs.”

Such a turn of events would demonstrate "not trust, but a shared interest in imposing limits on the confrontation before it escalates into a wider regional conflict."

The informal de-escalation took effect in the week before Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in their wider conflict on April 7.

An Iranian official confirmed that Tehran and Riyadh had agreed to de-escalate, saying the move was aimed at "suspending hostilities, protecting mutual interests and preventing the escalation of tensions."

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

A Chinese-brokered easing of tensions in 2023 led to a restoration of ties, including a ceasefire between the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which has held since.

Because the Red Sea remained open to navigation, Saudi Arabia, unlike most Gulf states, was able to continue exporting oil throughout the conflict and thus managed to remain relatively protected.

"The Kingdom Escaped the Furnace of Destruction"

In an op-ed published over the weekend in the Saudi newspaper Arab News, former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal summed up the kingdom's logic, writing that "when Iran and others tried to drag it into the furnace of destruction, our leadership decided to endure the pain inflicted by its neighbor in order to protect the lives and property of its citizens."

The Saudi attacks followed weeks of rising tensions.

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

Three days later, Saudi Arabia declared the Iranian military attaché and four embassy staff members persona non grata.

Iran reduces direct attacks on Saudi Arabia

By the end of March, diplomatic contacts and Saudi Arabia's threat to take a tougher approach, similar to that of the UAE, and retaliate further, led to an agreement on de-escalation, Western sources said.

According to a Reuters review of statements from the Saudi Defense Ministry, the number of drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia fell from more than 105 in the week of March 25-31 to just over 25 between April 1-6.

Western sources have assessed that missiles fired at Saudi Arabia in the days leading up to the broader ceasefire originated from Iraq, not Iran itself, indicating that Tehran had limited direct attacks while allied groups continued to operate.

On April 12, Saudi Arabia summoned the Iraqi ambassador for talks to protest the attack from Iraqi territory.

Saudi-Iranian communication continued even as tensions rose at the start of a broader ceasefire between Iran and the US, when the Saudi Ministry of Defense reported that 31 drones and 16 missiles were fired at the kingdom on April 7 and 8.

The sharp increase in attacks has led Riyadh to consider retaliation against Iran and Iraq, while Pakistan has deployed fighter jets to reassure the kingdom and urged restraint at a time when diplomacy was gaining momentum.