American and Saudi fighter jets struck Iranian-linked militias in Iraq on Wednesday, marking a rare joint military action targeting groups accused by Washington of attacking U.S. forces and regional allies.
The U.S. accused Iran’s military of directing Iraqi allies to attack American forces and Saudi energy infrastructure. The U.S. military said the Iraq strikes were carried out in response to more than 30 drone attacks by Iran-backed groups over the previous 72 hours. No Iraqi militia publicly claimed responsibility. Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the joint strikes as an effort to broaden the conflict.
Saudi Arabia had largely avoided direct involvement in the conflict until now. This week, the kingdom faced dozens of drone attacks on its oil facilities. On Tuesday, Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthis claimed they targeted a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea, a key energy route.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said Wednesday the kingdom was not seeking to widen the fighting but would respond to any aggression. In a “Fox & Friends” interview, President Trump called Iran’s missile launches a surprise. U.S. forces had only minutes to intercept them. “We’ll be hitting them hard,” he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called the U.S.-Saudi strikes “an unacceptable aggression.” The Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella of Iranian-tied Iraqi militias, said at least 20 fighters were killed.
