Saudi Arabia intercepts 31 drones over Riyadh, eastern regions

2026-03-16 - 09:54

The Saudi Arabia Ministry of Defense announced that a total of 31 drones were intercepted and destroyed over Riyadh and the Eastern Province since early Sunday morning. According to the ministry, the first interceptions occurred during the night when two drones were shot down over Riyadh and Eastern regions. Around an hour later, two additional drones were intercepted in the Eastern Province, followed by another drone in the same region shortly afterwards. Later in the morning, authorities reported the interception of three more drones over the Eastern Province and seven additional drones across the Riyadh and Eastern regions. The ministry then confirmed that two more drones were destroyed in the Eastern Province, and about an hour later ten drones were intercepted across the Riyadh and Eastern regions. Toward the afternoon, four drones were intercepted and destroyed over the Riyadh region, bringing the total number of downed drones to 31, according to the ministry. Earlier, Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia denied Tehran is responsible for attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, saying if it was behind the strikes, it would have announced it. Alireza Enayati did not suggest who carried out the attacks, but added Iran is only attacking United States and Israeli military targets and interests during the ongoing war, Reuters news agency quoted him as saying on Sunday.