Iran conflict 2026: Greek Patriot in Saudi Arabia intercepts two ballistic missiles

A launcher and personnel from the Greek Patriot battery deployed to Saudi Arabia, in a photo released in May 2024. (Hellenic National Defence General Staff )

Greek Minister of Defence Nikos Dendias announced on 19 March that the Greek Patriot battery in Saudi Arabia shot down two Iranian ballistic missiles that targeted refineries.

The Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA) reported the deployment of a Patriot battery to Saudi Arabia in September 2021. The GEETHA's coverage of subsequent visits to the battery by its chief helped to confirm it was deployed to Yanbu on the kingdom's Red Sea coast.

Yanbu's strategic importance has increased since the US and Israel began their attack on Iran on 28 February. It is the terminal for the East-West pipeline that enables some oil exports to circumvent the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi Ministry of Defence did not report a ballistic missile attack on Yanbu, but said on 19 March that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had hit the Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery (SAMREF), which is about 10 km southeast of the Greek Patriot.

SAMREF was one of four energy targets that Iran threatened to attack on 18 March in retaliation for an airstrike on its South Pars gas field. It released graphics similar to those used by the Israel Defense Forces to identify the targets. The other three were Qatar's petrochemical complex in Mesaieed, its Ras Laffan refinery, and the Al-Hisn gas field in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The satellite imagery used to illustrate the Emirati target showed the infrastructure at the Shah gas field near the Saudi border.