The United States and Saudi Arabia carried out joint precision airstrikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq on 29 July, hours after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at a US base in Jordan and struck oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes targeted logistics and weapons sites of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a coalition of mostly Shia paramilitaries integrated into the Iraqi armed forces but dominated by groups loyal to Tehran. According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), the operation was a direct response to more than 30 drone attacks over the preceding 72 hours that were directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against American forces and Saudi energy infrastructure. The PMF said at least 20 of its fighters were killed and 32 wounded, and described the raids as a “dangerous escalation” and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

The exchange of blows dashed a brief lull in hostilities and drew starkly conflicting claims. The IRGC confirmed it had launched “several ballistic missiles” at a US air base and a CENTCOM command centre in Jordan, framing the act as retaliation for “aggressive actions of the child-killing American army.” Jordan’s military intercepted five missiles, and Washington said all incoming projectiles were shot down. Iran’s naval forces also attacked three tankers that ignored warnings in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran says it controls and where it seeks to impose fees on shipping. After the strikes in Iraq, President Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States would “hit them hard” and that the militias were “a cancer on the world,” but he added that diplomatic channels would remain open: “We’re going to let them keep talking.”

The joint operation marks a significant widening of the five-month-old war. It is the first time Saudi Arabia has publicly declared its participation in offensive strikes alongside the United States, drawing Sunni-majority Riyadh into direct combat against Shia proxies of Iran on a new front. The Saudi defence ministry invoked the right of self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter, insisting it does not seek escalation but would respond to any aggression. The Iraqi government, which maintains close ties to both Washington and Tehran, was caught in the middle: Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, and the Iraqi presidency denounced the strikes as “an unacceptable attack and a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.” Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the raids as part of a US and Israeli strategy to “expand the war and increase instability in the region.”

Oil markets reacted sharply, with Brent crude climbing more than 5 per cent to over $87 a barrel, as the renewed combat and the effective closure of the Hormuz waterway revived fears of prolonged supply disruptions. Diplomatic efforts suffered a parallel setback: Iran rejected an Omani proposal backed by Gulf states for joint regional control of the strait, insisting on sole authority over the inbound shipping lane. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Trump in Washington for what both leaders described as a “very good meeting” focused on ensuring Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons, though Israel has not joined the latest round of American strikes. The situation remains volatile, with CENTCOM warning that the IRGC and its proxies “must cease these attacks to avoid further US military response.” No new negotiations have been announced, and the state of play on the ground suggests both sides remain locked in a cycle of action and retaliation.