Iraq’s army found drone launchers near the border with Iran after an attack on an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia that Baghdad and Riyadh claimed was launched from Iraqi territory, reported AFP.
© Lusa
12/09/2026
by
Lusa
“ O army found drone launchers near the border between Iraq and Iran in the remote al-Tib region in Missan province today two sources of Iraqi security told the French news agency.
Riyadh announced on Friday night the “preventive” closure of the East-West pipeline, located in the Riyadh and Medina regions and transporting approximately seven million barrels of crudes a day, after, on the eve, having suffered several attacks with ‘drones’ launched from Iraq.
The pro-Iran militias in Iraq had already attacked Saudi Arabia, mainly with drones, missiles and projectiles, targeting the capital, Riyadh, the eastern region and various energy facilities, which led the kingdom to respond with a joint offensive with the United States at the end of July.
The Iraqi Government has now ordered an “urgent investigation” on the discovery of drone launch platforms, at the request and together with Iran, to fire a military commander and a chief of police in Maysan, the province of south-east Iraq from which the attacks were launched, in addition to having decreed the closure of border crossings with Iran.
Iran confirmed this morning, through reports released by the IRNA news agency, that “according to reports from the Iraqi authorities, the border crossings of Shalamcheh and Chazabeh [in the southwest of the Persian country] remain closed until further notice.”.
Citing a source of Iraqi security and a government official, AFP refers to the closure of three border crossings with Iran in Shalamcheh and al-Shib in southern Iraq as well as in al-Mandali in the central province of Diyala.
According to the source of security, the decision falls under the “intelligence efforts aimed at finding the authors and preventing them from fleeing”, also aimed at “difficulting the smuggling of drones through these crossing points”.
Other border crossing points with Iran remain open.
The Arab League, formed by 22 countries, condemned the attacks and expressed solidarity with Riyadh in the face of “a serious threat to their security and stability”.
In a statement, the Secretary-General of the organization, Nabil Fahmy, considered the incident “a flagrant violation of Kingdom sovereignty”, and a “clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.”.
He also reaffirmed “the Arab League’s categorical rejection of the use of the territory of any Arab State as a launch platform for attacks on third parties, or to undermine their security and stability.”.