The US and Saudi Arabia have conducted strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq, signaling a potential escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. The US Central Command (Centcom) stated that the strikes targeted “terrorists linked to Iran” who had been directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to attack US forces and Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure.
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which are dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, reported that at least 20 of their members were killed and another 32 were injured in strikes on their bases. This occurred just hours after Centcom reported that Iran had launched missiles at US forces in the Middle East in an “attempted surprise attack,” ending a period of relative calm. According to the US, the attack took place on Tuesday at 17:45 Eastern Time (21:45 GMT), and all the missiles were “successfully intercepted.”
Response to attacks and statements from the parties
The IRGC claimed it had struck a US airbase and command center in Jordan “in response to acts of aggression by the American army that kills children.” The IRGC also reported that its naval forces had attacked three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz after they “ignored warnings” and took a route described as “dangerous and illegal” through one of the region’s key maritime routes.
In response to a question from a Fox News correspondent regarding the Iranian attack on Jordan, US President Donald Trump stated that US forces “will hit them hard,” adding: “They will get a beating.”
Centcom reported that the joint strikes by allies targeted “numerous terrorist logistics and weapons facilities across eastern Iraq” in response to more than 30 drone attacks that the US claims the IRGC conducted over the past 72 hours. The command labeled these attacks “unjustified” and stated that they did not achieve their intended goals. The statement also noted: “The IRGC and the terrorist groups it supports must cease these attacks to avoid further US military response.”
Statements from Saudi Arabia and Iraq’s reaction
A spokesman for the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense, Major General Turki al-Maliki, accused Iran-backed militia groups of launching drones from Iraqi territory at oil facilities in the Eastern Region and the Riyadh area on Monday and Tuesday. He stated that Saudi Arabia, exercising its “right to self-defense,” responded with strikes on specific targets of these groups. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirms that it does not seek escalation but will decisively respond to any aggression directed against it,” he emphasized.
On Wednesday, the PMF reported that at least 20 of their fighters were killed and 32 were injured in strikes on their headquarters in the provinces of Baghdad, Wasit, Nineveh, Basra, Kirkuk, Karbala, and Diyala. A representative of the organization told AFP that the deadliest strikes occurred in Nineveh in the north of the country and Diyala in central Iraq. The PMF condemned these actions as “insidious terrorist attacks” and stated that they represent “an extremely serious escalation and a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, targeting its official security institutions.”
The PMF is an umbrella organization that includes predominantly Shiite paramilitary groups and is officially part of Iraq’s armed forces. It comprises several Iran-backed factions that are part of Tehran’s network of proxy groups in the Middle East. For years, they have repeatedly attacked US personnel and interests in Iraq, aiming to achieve the withdrawal of US troops from the country. In response, Washington has regularly targeted these formations.
The Iraqi president’s administration condemned the bombing of PMF bases, calling it “an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, targeting its official institutions.”
Source: BBC
