Saudi Arabia found itself under intense Iranian fire over the weekend, intercepting 15 drones in a single day while two of its civilians were killed in a residential strike and a US service member died from wounds sustained in a separate Iranian attack on American forces stationed in the kingdom. Against this backdrop, global oil prices blazed past $100 per barrel.
The attacks came after Israel struck oil storage facilities near Tehran, killing four workers and blanketing the capital in smoke. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded by threatening to drive global oil to $200 per barrel and warned that Gulf states — including Saudi Arabia — would continue to be targeted if they allowed their territory to be used against Iran.
Saudi Arabia’s air defenses demonstrated their capability by intercepting the incoming drones, but the sheer volume of attacks across five Gulf nations simultaneously revealed the scale of Iran’s determination to impose costs on countries it perceived as complicit in the campaign against its energy infrastructure.
Iran’s clerical body appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader following his father’s death, a historic first that drew swift criticism. The new leader called on Iranians to unite behind him at what the clerical assembly described as a critical moment — though the country’s own president and military appeared to be operating at cross-purposes.
Washington pledged not to target Iranian oil infrastructure and expressed confidence that supply disruptions would be short-lived. But with Saudi Arabia absorbing 15 drones in a single day, American troops dying, and oil above $100, the optimism from Washington was being tested in the most direct possible terms.
Oil Blazes Past $100 as Iranian Missiles Rain Down on Saudi Arabia
