Iran, bolstered by its increased unmanned aerial capabilities through encouraging Hamas to try to strike Israel with them from Gaza, after it flew a UAV into northern Israel on May 18 and when it used one in April to attack a CIA hangar in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, has now celebrated new Houthi drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The Iran-backed drone war is now threatening or has involved Syria, Iraq, Israel, Yemen and other states in the region.
Iran’s major drone contribution has been to Yemen, where it supplied expertise and equipment, such as gyroscopes and other specialist parts, to aid an indigenous industry for UAV manufacturing. These became the Qasef-style drones that the Houthi rebels have used for years against Saudi Arabia and the Riyadh-led coalition.
“According to Fars News Agency’s International Group, Brig.-Gen. Yahya Sari, the official spokesman for the [Houthi] Yemeni Armed Forces, announced that King Khalid Air Base was once again targeted by a Yemeni drone,” an Iranian report said Monday.
It is clear from the Iranian reports that Iran is encouraging and is behind these attacks. They are used to pressure Saudi Arabia. Iran relies on Houthi information to tell the public of the role of the UAV units that the Houthis have.
“With the help of God, the UAV unit succeeded in targeting King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait this morning in an attack operation with a 2K Qasef UAV,” the report said. “Referring to the precise targeting, [the Houthis] stressed that the attack was carried out in response to the escalation of aggression and the pervasive siege of Yemen.”
The Yemeni UAV unit also targeted the King Khalid Base in Khamis Mushait with a 2K Qasef UAV in an offensive operation on Friday and Sunday. This means there has been a rising drone offensive against Saudi Arabia over the past several days.
Its “coalition air defenses intercepted an explosives-laden drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia towards Saudi Arabia late on Saturday, the alliance command center said early Sunday,” Arab News, an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia, reported.
In a statement carried by Al-Ekhbariya state TV, the coalition said the weaponized UAV was aimed at the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait along the border with Yemen, the report said.
“It was the latest in a series of missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed militia against Saudi Arabia since the Kingdom spearheaded a coalition to restore the UN-recognized government in 2015,” it said. “Ignoring calls to support the peace negotiations being brokered by the UN, the militia has also refused to end its offensive in the city of Marib.”
A drone that flew into northern Israel on May 18 came from Syria or Iraq and was linked to Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. On that date, the IDF said: “Earlier this morning, a UAV approaching the Israeli border in the Emek Hama’ayanot region, near the Beit She’an Valley, was intercepted after being monitored by the IAF. The UAV fragments were collected by security forces.”