On Friday, Saudi Arabia protested a Houthi drone attack on an oil facility in Riyadh. It was an act to sabotage the world's energy stability. Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its intelligence reports and the US estimates that Iran is still providing the arms used in these attacks. The same conclusion was reached last year by the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen. On Friday morning, explosions were heard at the Saudi Aramco factory.

The Ras Tanura refinery was targeted by drones at 6.05 a.m., according to an official spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy. The attack by Yemeni rebels supported by Iran resulted in a fire that needs to be extinguished.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, the attack did not result in any deaths or injuries or any effect on the supply of oil or its derivatives.

"The kingdom asserts that such repeated acts of terrorism and sabotage, the most recent of which was an attempt to strike the Ras Tanura refinery and Saudi Aramco's residential area in Dhahran – do not target the kingdom alone, but the protection and stability of the world's energy supply, as well as the global economy." Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel Al Jubeir, said later on Friday that Iran had provided the Houthis with the weapons used in the attack. He further adds, "All of the missiles and drones that entered Saudi Arabia were produced or supplied by Iran. Several of them came from the north; while others came from the sea."

The attack was also criticized by the UAE, Russia, Egypt, and the US after Houthis conducted a drone and missile attack on the state oil company's facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia earlier this month. A drone attack on a petroleum plant at Ras Tanura port was foiled on March 7, in the morning. A missile was intercepted near an Aramco housing complex in Dhahran, about 80 kilometers south, in the evening, according to Saudi authorities.

The rebels cross-border and attacked Saudi Arabia. The outbreaks of fighting in Yemen’s Marib province were criticized by the UN Security Council. It argued that these acts jeopardized the attempt to achieve a diplomatic resolution at a time when the international community was becoming more unified to end the Yemen conflict. Last week, Brig Gen Turki Al Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition battling rebels in Yemen, visited Marib to speak with the Yemeni governor of the internationally recognized as government's last northern refuge.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement on Friday that the recent Houthi attacks were a "grave provocation" that threatened global oil supplies and demonstrated the rebels' attempts to disrupt regional security and stability.

The assault was also criticized by US President Joe Biden's administration on Friday. The Houthis' attempt to disrupt global energy sources by attacking Saudi infrastructure is criticized by him.

This behavior demonstrates a complete disregard for the safety of civilians employed or living near the sites "Jalina Porter, a State Department deputy spokeswoman, told reporters in a phone briefing. What other steps the US could take in response to such attacks, Ms. Porter did not elaborate. She said the Biden administration remains committed to achieving a settlement in Yemen by working with the United Nations and through US envoy Tim Lenderking.