US, Saudi Strikes on Iraq Follow Iranian Missile Attack on Jordan
The conflict between Iran and the US has escalated further as Iran fired several ballistic missiles at United States military installations in Jordan. The US confirmed it had intercepted a 'surprise' attack, but did not specify which sites or assets were targeted. This incident occurred on Wednesday morning, according to reports.
Later that day, the US and Saudi Arabia launched attacks on Iran-backed groups in Iraq, citing recent drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities as justification. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella group for armed groups in Iraq loyal to Iran.
The PMF denied any role in the drone attacks and accused Saudi Arabia of fabricating claims. The US has accused Iran-aligned groups in Iraq of carrying out '30 IRGC-directed' drone attacks in 72 hours, prompting a warning from an unnamed Iranian defence official that blaming Iran for such attacks is a 'major miscalculation'.
Iran's latest attack on Jordan follows its pattern of targeting US military assets and infrastructure in Gulf countries. The country has been doing this since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.
The conflict has already spilled over to other regions, including the Red Sea, where Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have announced a blockade and targeted Saudi-flagged ships. Experts fear that the war is increasingly overlapping with other conflicts, including the one in Ukraine, and risks dragging Saudi Arabia and other regional powers deeper into the fighting.