A drone crashed into a refinery on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast on Thursday.
The drone hit the Samref refinery in the port of Yanbu, a Ministry of Defense spokesman said, adding that a damage assessment is underway.
Shortly before, the ministry said a ballistic missile launched toward Yanbu port was intercepted and destroyed.
Samref is an equally owned joint venture between Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil through its subsidiary Mobil Yanbu Refining Company.
It is one of the leading refineries in the Middle East, processing more than 400,000 barrels per day of Arabian Light crude oil, according to the Samref website.
The refinery’s location on the Red Sea is on the opposite side of the Kingdom from the Arabian Gulf and is not restricted by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The attack comes as Iran continues to target energy facilities in Arab Gulf countries in response to an Israeli attack on Iran’s main gas field on Wednesday.
An energy hub in Qatar was hit by Iranian missiles on Wednesday evening causing extensive damage.
Also on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia intercepted a number of drones attempting to reach a gas facility in the Eastern Region.
The UAE shut gas facilities after intercepting missiles early on Thursday.
And in Kuwait, one of the operational units at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s Mina Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries was targeted by drones, resulting in fires at both sites, Kuwait’s state news agency said.
Drones continued to be intercepted and destroyed elsewhere in Saudi Arabia throughout Thursday.
The majority were shot down in the Eastern Region, while Riyadh was also targeted.
Early on Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan warned that the Kingdom’s restraint in the face of escalating Iranian attacks “is not unlimited.”
His comments came as Arab and Islamic states issued a unified call for Tehran to halt its aggression.
With Reuters and AFP
