On 3 October, fourteen people were injured during clashes in Qatif province in eastern Saudi Arabia.

State media said the clashes had been incited by “a foreign country”, a veiled accusation of Iranian involvement. It quoted the Interior Ministry as saying that a group of Shia demonstrators had gathered in al-Awamia village carrying petrol bombs and firing machine guns.

The kingdom’s minority Shia population is concentrated in the east which was the scene of largely peaceful protests earlier in the year. The area is also the location of much of the kingdom’s oil infrastructure.

According to a statement from the Saudi Press Agency, 11 of those injured were security personel.