Reuters reported on the 11th, local time, that Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, which has been utilized as an alternative crude oil transportation route following Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, was attacked and its operations were temporarily suspended.

With confirmation that the drones used in the attack were launched from Iraq, Saudi Arabia now faces threats to its overland transportation following previous threats to its two maritime routes.

An official from the Saudi Ministry of Energy reported that the pipeline was attacked multiple times in the Riyadh and Medina regions, resulting in some injuries.

The attack occurred on the 10th, and the Saudi government stated that the drones took off from Iraqi territory and targeted the pipeline.

The Prime Minister of Iraq condemned the attack and ordered an immediate investigation to identify who was responsible.

Later, past midnight local time on the 12th, the Iraqi Prime Minister's Office announced that the investigation confirmed the drones originated from within the country, and that one military commander had been dismissed.

The Iraqi Prime Minister's Office explained that this commander had overseen military operations in Maysan Governorate in southern Iraq.

Although it has been confirmed that the drones departed from Iraq, the exact perpetrators of the attack have not yet been identified.

However, according to the Associated Press, pro-Iranian armed groups in Iraq have recently conducted joint military operations targeting Saudi Arabia alongside Yemen's pro-Iranian Houthi rebels.

During a large-scale drone attack targeting Saudi oil facilities in July, envoys from the Houthi rebels also joined the operational control room of Iraqi armed groups to formulate and execute the attack plan.

At the time, the United States and Saudi Arabia pointed to pro-Iranian militias in Iraq as the actual masterminds behind the drone attacks and carried out joint retaliatory airstrikes.

Earlier, CNN cited a U.S. official familiar with the matter to report that the pipeline and pumping stations were hit by projectiles, and that satellite imagery captured a pumping station ablaze and emitting smoke, as well as widespread fire damage at another.

The 1,201-kilometer-long East-West Pipeline, which crosses the Arabian Peninsula to the Port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, has grown even more critical as Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has continued since the outbreak of war triggered by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

This pipeline is capable of transporting approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Saudi Arabia has been rerouting roughly 5 million barrels of crude oil per day through this pipeline and other routes.

Because of this, Aramco Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan has described the East-West Pipeline as the "lifeline" of the Saudi economy.

CNN reported that as the war with Iran continues, threats to Saudi Arabia's oil resources and its ability to export them are mounting.

In particular, this attack took place as Yemen's pro-Iranian Houthi rebels rapidly seized key strategic locations near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance of the Red Sea, including the port of Mokha.

(Photo: AFP, Yonhap News)