Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday the joint strikes carried out alongside U.S. forces against Iran-backed groups in Iraq were lawful self-defense.
“These Iran-backed terrorist militias chose the path of irresponsible escalation, violating international law,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the strikes were carried out in response to previous attacks by the militia groups on Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. and Saudi militaries launched airstrikes late Tuesday on Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, U.S. Central Command said, after Iran and its proxies allegedly targeted American forces over the last few days.
The U.S.-Saudi operation was aimed at “terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq,” CENTCOM said in a statement posted to social media. The Saudi Ministry of Defense also confirmed that it “conducted precise and targeted strikes,” citing its right to self-defense.
The Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella group of Iraqi paramilitary forces backed by Iran, said in a statement released Wednesday that at least 20 of its fighters were killed and 32 wounded. The group said its headquarters in Baghdad and six other locations were struck.
CENTCOM said the strikes were in response to more than 30 attempted drone attacks on U.S. forces and Saudi energy sites over the last three days, describing the attacks on U.S. assets as unsuccessful. Saudi Arabia said it has intercepted drones that were launched from Iraq and targeted petroleum facilities in Riyadh and the country’s east.
Jordan’s military said the country’s air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday. In a statement, the military said the missiles had been “intercepted and destroyed.” It did not mention any casualties.
Earlier, the U.S. military said it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia’s forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days, shattering a brief pause in fighting.
All Iranian missiles launched against American forces in the Middle East were intercepted, U.S. Central Command said.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards struck and halted three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, which is linked to the Revolutionary Guards.
“Three violating oil tankers, which ignored our warnings and continued sailing an unsafe and illegal route, were struck and brought to a halt,” the Tasnim News agency reported.
It was not immediately clear if the tankers sustained any significant damage, or if there were any injuries to crewmembers from the attacks.
Earlier Tuesday, the Yemen-based Houthi militant group, which is an Iranian proxy, said it fired several ballistic missiles at a Saudi-flagged tanker in the Red Sea.
Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in the Middle East in what U.S. Central Command described as an “attempted surprise attack.”
CENTCOM said the missiles were launched at 5:45 p.m. ET Tuesday by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. They were all “successfully intercepted,” according to CENTCOM.
“U.S. forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness,” CENTCOM said in its statement.
The White House meeting between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “extremely positive,” according to a senior Israeli source who accompanied Netanyahu in the meeting.
“It was an extremely positive meeting,” the source said. “The Prime Minister and President held an excellent and comprehensive discussion on the key issues of the day, first and foremost Iran. The leaders reaffirmed their ironclad commitment to ensuring that Iran never has nuclear weapons.”
The meeting held the potential to be tense, emphasized by Mr. Trump’s comments to Fox News just before the meeting. He pushed back on a reporter’s question about Netanyahu wanting to discuss Pickaxe Mountain, a supposed Iranian nuclear facility, saying, “I don’t need Bibi to tell me that.”
“Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved,” Mr. Trump told Fox News. “I said, ‘Why didn’t you just tell it to me, why did you have to announce it to the world?'”
“I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe. It’s not a big problem,” Mr. Trump added.
The meeting lasted for a little over an hour.
