Drone launch platform found inside Iraq as border crossings with Iran reopen

BAGHDAD — Iraqi authorities have found a drone launch platform used in the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil pipeline inside Iraqi territory, the Security Media Cell said, as three crossings with Iran began reopening on a phased timetable.

Forensic, technical and intelligence work is continuing to identify those responsible, said Security Media Cell chief Lt. Gen. Saad Maan. The finding is the first physical evidence the government has cited, a day after the Badr parliamentary bloc accused it of adopting the Saudi account before completing technical investigations, and after the Islamic Resistance in Iraq denied involvement and said Baghdad was relying on no reliable evidence.

Passenger traffic through Shib and Shalamcheh resumed at 6 a.m. on Sunday on Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s instructions. Trade through Shalamcheh restarts at 6 a.m. Monday, Mandali on Tuesday and Shib on Thursday. “Timetables have been set for completing the organizational and rehabilitation requirements at the Shalamcheh, Mandali and Al-Shib crossings,” the cell said, adding that movement with Iran “did not stop” and has continued around the clock through Zurbatiyah and Mundhiriya.

The three were closed on Saturday after Saudi Arabia said drones launched from Iraqi territory struck its East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions. Iraqi authorities said the drones came from Maysan governorate, near the Iranian border, and Zaidi dismissed the Maysan Operations commander and police chief and referred the heads of the governorate’s security agencies for investigation. Riyadh said the attack caused injuries and material damage but that it would not retaliate at this stage after Zaidi asked for time.