Dhahran
[key], city, NE Saudi Arabia, near the Persian Gulf. Since the discovery
(1938) of oil nearby, it has grown rapidly into a modern city. In Dhahran
are the headquarters of the Arabian American Oil Co. (ARAMCO), the office of
the Saudi petroleum ministry, and the Univ. of Petroleum and Minerals.
During the Persian Gulf War
the city's air base, the largest in Saudi Arabia, was used by coalition
forces, and the area was subjected to Iraqi missile attacks. In 1996 a truck
bomb at the Saudi base, which also housed foreign military personnel, killed
19 Americans and wounded more than 400 people.
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