Saudi Arabia has shutdown a vital oil pipeline after it was attacked by drones launched from Iraq, as the Middle East turmoil worsened. Iraq said it sacked a military officer and opened an investigation after acknowledging that the drone strike on Iran’s East-West pipeline originated in one of its neighbouring regions.
The 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) pipeline has allowed Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude oil exporter, to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. The incident occurred amid a huge advance by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, putting further strain on global oil shipping routes as the US-Iran war enters its seventh month.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces stated Friday that they had hit Houthi fighters in the crucial coastal city of Mokha, a day after the Houthis took control of the entire Red Sea coast. Riyadh claimed on Friday that it had shut down the pipeline as a precaution, after satellite photographs of charred earth and smoke around the site surfaced. The foreign ministry stated that the attack caused several injuries and damage, which were still being assessed.
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