Joint US-Saudi Airstrikes Kill Dozens in Iraq Amid Gulf Tensions

On Wednesday, US-Saudi joint airstrikes targeted sites in Iraq belonging to Iranian-aligned factions. The strikes killed at least 20 members of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) across seven provinces.

The Saudi authorities accused Iran-aligned Iraqi armed factions of launching attacks on oil facilities in their eastern province earlier this week, and hours later, carried out joint airstrikes with the US on sites in Iraq belonging to the factions. The accounts differ on two points: who carried out the attacks on Saudi Arabia and whether they were launched from Iraqi territory or from Yemen.

The Houthis, an Iran-aligned movement that controls much of Yemen, said they alone carried out the attacks and that the Iraqi factions were not involved. They pointed to earlier operations against Saudi facilities, including at Yanbu and Jizan.

The Iranian government's news agency, Mehr, reported that four IRGC members had been killed in the strikes, while a Houthi official said a movement commander was killed in Wednesday's strikes. The US reported that strikes in Iraq killed about 20 Iranian advisers, including IRGC members and technical advisers.