A new line of fighting in the war in the Middle East opened up on July 28 when Saudi Arabia launched an attack on Iraq, with which the kingdom has generally cordial relations. The strike, carried out in conjunction with US forces, targeted Iranian-backed militants in Iraq who, the Saudis said, had fired drones at Saudi oil facilities two days in a row.

The power of its air force diminished by Western sanctions, Iran invested heavily in missiles and drones over the years, amassing what US intelligence called in early 2025 the “largest stockpile” of such systems in the Middle East. Its capabilities are both a target of the war on Iran being waged by the US and Israel, which have long aimed to neutralize this threat, and Iran’s main means of responding to the assault.