Saudi Arabia and UAE Secretly Attacked Iran during the War

Saudi Arabia carried out covert airstrikes inside Iran in late March in retaliation for Iranian attacks on the kingdom during the wider Middle East war, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials.

The regional war, which began after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has expanded more deeply than publicly acknowledged. Iran had attacked all six Gulf Cooperation Council states with missiles and drones, hitting U.S. bases as well as civilian sites, airports and oil infrastructure, while also closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Riyadh combined military retaliation with diplomatic containment. Saudi Arabia reportedly informed Iran of the strikes, maintained contact through diplomatic channels, and warned Tehran that further attacks would trigger additional retaliation. Those contacts helped produce an informal de-escalation understanding before the broader U.S.-Iran ceasefire announced on April 7.

The shift in Saudi behavior followed weeks of public warnings. On March 19, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the kingdom reserved the right to take military action if necessary after repeated Iranian missile and drone attacks.

Saudi defense ministry statements showed attacks on the kingdom falling from more than 105 between March 25 and 31 to just over 25 between April 1 and 6.

The Saudi strikes also appear to fit a broader pattern of Gulf states quietly hitting back. The United Arab Emirates has also been reported to have secretly carried out military strikes inside Iran, marking another sign that the Gulf states’ role in the war may have gone beyond defensive cooperation with the United States.

One of the UAE’s covert attacks targeted an oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf in early April, though Abu Dhabi has not publicly acknowledged the operations. The reported strike came after Iran had repeatedly targeted Gulf states, including the UAE, with missile and drone attacks during the wider regional war.

Still, Saudi Arabia’s approach appears more restrained than Abu Dhabi’s. While the UAE has reportedly adopted a more hawkish posture, Riyadh continued to emphasize de-escalation and regional stability. Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal wrote recently that the kingdom had avoided being dragged into what he described as a “furnace of destruction.”