Strikes resumed in the Middle East on Wednesday after a lull of several days, with the US military announcing it had intercepted Iranian missiles and launched an attack on “Iran-backed militias” in Iraq in coordination with Saudi Arabia, leading to a rise in oil prices.
US Central Command said on X, “U.S. Central Command and the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces conducted precision strikes in Iraq, July 28, against Iran-aligned terrorists that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) directed to attack U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.”
Saudi Arabia confirmed its involvement in the strikes, with its Defense Ministry saying it hit “targets belonging to those militias present on Iraqi territory that are linked to attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities.”
The strikes came after the ministry said its forces had intercepted drones targeting oil facilities in the east, blaming Iran-backed groups in Iraq.
Riyadh called the previous day for the Iraqi government to prevent attacks from its territory, after which Baghdad said it had ordered an investigation.
While the government in Baghdad announced an investigation, the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” which includes groups loyal to Tehran, denied carrying out any operation targeting the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, a PMF official said that the strikes hit positions belonging to the alliance “across several provinces, with the deadliest attack in Nineveh province, where at least 10 members were martyred,” adding that the toll would likely rise. Injuries were reported in other provinces, he added, while another official confirmed the initial toll.
“These attacks resulted in the martyrdom of a number of personnel and injuries to others, as well as material damage to several buildings and properties,” said the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), known as the Hashed al-Shaabi in Arabic, in a statement. The PMF is an alliance of paramilitaries and factions created in 2014 to fight jihadists, and is now integrated into the Iraqi armed forces.
CENTCOM had said earlier Tuesday that Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles in an “attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East,” but that all of them were intercepted. Tehran has not yet confirmed launching an attack against the United States.
At 5:45 p.m. ET today, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East. All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted. U.S. forces remain vigilant and at a high…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 28, 2026
In Jordan, its army on Wednesday said it intercepted and downed five Iranian missiles, as fighting between Tehran and Washington resumed following a brief pause.
“Air defenses this morning dealt with five missiles coming from Iran targeting the kingdom’s territory,” the spokesman of the Jordanian army said in a statement, adding that the missiles were “intercepted and downed”.
The renewed hostilities led to a rise in oil prices. At around 0015 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 3.67 percent at $82.17 a barrel, while North Sea Brent crude had gained 3.39 percent to $86.94.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck and halted three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported Wednesday, despite a lull in fighting between the Washington and Tehran.
The Guards’ navy said “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.
Earlier on Tuesday, Yemen’s Houthi rebels said that they had targeted a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles for allegedly violating a blockade on the kingdom’s ports announced by the group last week.
Trump Meets Netanyahu
US President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their first meeting since the war in the Middle East began.
After the meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Had a very good meeting! Obviously, many important subjects were discussed.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had an “excellent” meeting with US President Trump, marking their first face-to-face talks since the war with Iran began in late February.
“I’ve just finished an excellent meeting with President Trump,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, adding it touched on “our common goal: ensuring that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons”. “It was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had with the President of the United States, our friend Donald Trump.”
The closed-door talks — which the White House described as “positive and productive” — lasted for about an hour and a half and came as Netanyahu and Trump sought to patch over public disagreements on the war.
Israel has not taken part in the latest round of hostilities between the United States and Iran, which flared earlier this month as an April ceasefire collapsed.
Netanyahu’s visit to Washington also comes months before the Israeli parliamentary elections, in which he is seeking another term.
Relations between Trump and Netanyahu reached a low point in April during negotiations on the ceasefire with Iran, with Trump unleashing profanity-laced tirades against the Israeli premier. (AFP)
