Iraq seizes drone-launching platform used for targeting Saudi oil pipeline

Saudi authorities trace the launch site to Maysan province in southeastern Iraq, near the Iranian border.

A Royal Air Force Puma helicopter flies over the Maysan province in southern Iraq [File: Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images]

Iraqi authorities have said their security forces have located and seized a drone-launching platform allegedly used in an attack that struck Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline.

In a statement published by the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Saturday, Lieutenant General Saad Maan, head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, said that an intelligence and security task force had tracked down and seized the launch equipment.

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He also said that forensic and technical experts were continuing work to identify those behind the attack and that Iraq’s commander-in-chief had approved an Iranian request to join the investigation and review its findings.

Baghdad is maintaining direct communication with Saudi authorities to share intelligence, Maan said.

“Iraq adopts the principle of ‘preventive sovereignty’, which means not only preventing attacks on our territory, but also not allowing our land to be a launching pad against any other country, or for Iraq to be part of a proxy war,” he said, as quoted by INA.

Several people were injured after several drones launched from Iraq struck the East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions on Thursday, Saudi authorities said. The pipeline, which carries about 4 to 5 percent of the global oil supply and allows Saudi Arabia to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, was shut down as a precaution.

The kingdom also said it had decided against retaliating for now, following a request from Baghdad.

Saudi authorities traced the launch site to Maysan province in southeastern Iraq , a region near the Iranian border where Iran-aligned militias have long maintained a presence.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Rammal reported that the Iraqi authorities had pointed to the al-Tayeb border district in northeastern Maysan province near the Sheeb crossing, east of Amara, and encompassing both the Duwayrij River and Tayeb Island as the likely launch site.

Rammal said that with the targeted areas covering roughly 1,100 kilometres (684 miles) from Medina and 800km (497 miles) from Riyadh, the attack likely involved “not tactical drones, but long-range, advanced ones”.

Iraqi army spokesman Sabah al-Numan said earlier on Saturday that security and intelligence agencies were pursuing operations to arrest all those involved.

Following the strike, Iraqi authorities temporarily closed several border crossings with Iran, including Shalamcheh, Chazabeh and Mandali, for security inspections before partially reopening them for humanitarian traffic.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi reshuffled military commanders in border regions, including Maysan province, in the wake of the attack.

Al Jazeera correspondent Samer al-Kubaisi named the Maysan operations commander and the provincial police chief as among those dismissed, with a group of security commanders in the province now under investigation over the attacks.

Political analyst Salim Zakhour told Al Jazeera that Saudi Arabia “did not go toward direct escalation on the ground”, but instead sought “political containment through the Iraqi government”.

He said the developments of the past few days are “extremely complex for Saudi Arabia”, pointing to the Houthis’ advance towards Bab al-Mandeb alongside the East-West oil pipeline strike.

This leaves Riyadh in a major defensive position, requiring “real, practical steps to deter these attempts,” Zakhour added.

沙特当局追溯发射地点至伊拉克东南部迈桑省，靠近伊朗边境。

一架英国皇家空军的“美洲狮”直升机飞越伊拉克南部的迈桑省。[图片：Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images]

伊拉克当局表示，他们的安全部队已经找到并缴获了一个无人机发射平台，据称该平台曾被用于袭击沙特阿拉伯东西输油管道。

伊拉克国家通讯社（INA）周六发表声明称，伊拉克安全媒体中心负责人萨阿德·马安中将表示，一支情报和安全特遣队已经追踪并缴获了发射设备。

沙特阿拉伯称，东西输油管道遭伊拉克无人机袭击（共3条记录，此为第1条）

伊拉克调查对沙特阿拉伯的无人机袭击，并关闭了通往伊朗的三个过境点（共3条，此为第2条）。

沙特阿拉伯在无人机袭击后关闭关键输油管道：这意味着什么？（共3条，此为第3条）

他还表示，法医和技术专家正在继续努力查明袭击背后的凶手，伊拉克总司令已批准伊朗加入调查并审查调查结果的请求。

马安表示，巴格达正与沙特当局保持直接沟通，共享情报。

据伊拉克通讯社（INA）报道，他表示：“伊拉克奉行‘预防性主权’原则，这意味着不仅要防止对我们的领土发动袭击，还要不允许我们的土地成为攻击任何其他国家的跳板，也不允许伊拉克成为代理人战争的一部分。”

沙特当局称，周四，数架从伊拉克起飞的无人机袭击了位于利雅得和麦地那地区的东西输油管道，造成多人受伤。这条输油管道输送着全球约4%至5%的石油供应，使沙特阿拉伯能够绕过霍尔木兹海峡。作为预防措施，该管道已被关闭。

沙特王国还表示，应巴格达的要求，沙特决定暂时不采取报复行动。

沙特当局追踪到发射地点位于伊拉克东南部的迈桑省，该地区靠近伊朗边境，伊朗支持的民兵组织长期以来一直在那里活动。

半岛电视台记者穆罕默德·拉马尔报道称，伊拉克当局指出，位于迈桑省东北部、靠近希布过境点、阿马拉以东、涵盖杜瓦伊里杰河和塔耶布岛的塔耶布边境地区可能是导弹发射地点。

拉马尔表示，袭击目标区域距离麦地那约 1100 公里（684 英里），距离利雅得约 800 公里（497 英里），因此此次袭击很可能“并非战术无人机，而是远程、先进的无人机”。

伊拉克军方发言人萨巴赫·努曼周六早些时候表示，安全和情报机构正在开展行动，逮捕所有涉案人员。

袭击发生后，伊拉克当局暂时关闭了与伊朗接壤的几个边境口岸，包括沙拉姆切、查扎贝和曼达利，进行安全检查，之后部分重新开放，以保障人道主义援助物资的运输。

袭击发生后，伊拉克总理阿里·扎伊迪改组了包括迈桑省在内的边境地区的军事指挥官。

半岛电视台记者萨默·库拜西透露，迈桑行动指挥官和省警察局长已被解职，目前该省的一群安全指挥官正因这些袭击事件接受调查。

政治分析家萨利姆·扎胡尔告诉半岛电视台，沙特阿拉伯“没有采取直接的地面冲突升级行动”，而是寻求“通过伊拉克政府进行政治遏制”。

他表示，过去几天的事态发展对沙特阿拉伯来说“极其复杂”，并指出胡塞武装向曼德海峡推进，同时东西石油管道遭到袭击。

扎胡尔补充说，这使得利雅得处于严重的防御地位，需要采取“真正切实可行的措施来阻止这些企图”。