ARABIE SAOUDITE PERSPECTIVE

Saudi media coverage — and coverage about Saudi Arabia in international media — reveals a kingdom transformed into a collateral battlefield. The interception of 20 drones targeting the Eastern Province on March 24, after 51 drones intercepted in a single day in mid-March and the record of 31 drones plus 3 ballistic missiles on March 12, paints a picture of near-daily Iranian aggression against Saudi oil infrastructure. The drone attack on the Ras Tanura refinery — the kingdom's largest — which triggered a security shutdown and a surge in crude prices, symbolizes the vulnerability of the Saudi economic model.

Brent briefly exceeded $119/barrel, up more than 60% since the conflict began. Iranian attacks on Saudi infrastructure — Ras Tanura, the Shaybah oil field, installations in Kuwait and Qatar — constitute a deliberate strategy of 'total economic warfare' against the US's Gulf allies. Saudi and regional media frame this escalation as unprovoked aggression against neutral nations, obscuring the fact that American bases on Saudi soil serve as platforms for operations against Iran.

The security dimension takes a personal turn with the death of a Moroccan contractor with the Emirati military killed in Bahrain in an Iranian strike, a reminder that Gulf populations are paying a direct human price. Saudi defense systems, tested daily, become a major technological issue: regional media treat each successful interception as a victory and each failure as a systemic breakdown.

Saudi coverage blind spots are considerable: absence of questioning about the presence of American bases as a factor provoking attacks, silence on the humanitarian toll in Iran, and refusal to consider the Iranian perspective that Gulf states are de facto co-belligerents. Saudi Arabia presents itself exclusively as an innocent victim caught in crossfire, a narrative that serves both national cohesion and the demand for enhanced American protection.