Houthis Launch Attacks on Saudi Arabia from Iraqi Territory

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking Saudi Arabia from Iraqi territory in coordination with Iraqi armed groups, according to assessments by Saudi Arabia and regional partners. This reflects growing coordination among Iran-aligned militias, two officials in the region said.

The attacks included strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia's eastern province, the kingdom's main crude hub. Saudi Arabia carried out joint airstrikes with the United States on Iraqi sites on Wednesday that it said were linked to the attacks, officially blaming Iraqi armed groups aligned with Iran. Yemen's Houthis have said they carried out the attacks.

The officials who said some of the attacks were carried out from Iraqi territory jointly by the Iraqi groups and the Houthis added that it was under the supervision of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. After the Saudi-U.S. strikes on Wednesday, Iran-aligned media mourned members of the IRGC, Iraqi fighters, and at least one Houthi.

Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank's Middle East and North Africa program, said 'There is now direct training and coordination between members of the Axis of Resistance themselves, not just between them and Iran.'