The United States (US) launched on Wednesday its first airstrikes in the Middle East since suspending its bombing campaign last week, hitting Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq jointly with Saudi Arabia, while Tehran spurned an Omani plan to manage the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran said it had fired on ships in the strait and at US bases in Jordan, and oil prices rose again as renewed combat and diplomatic setbacks signalled no quick end to the war the US and Israel started in February.
Washington and Riyadh said they had jointly struck Iran backed armed groups in Iraq in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, powerful Iran and backed paramilitary groups incorporated into the formal Iraqi security forces, said at least 20 members were killed and 32 wounded in US and Saudi strikes targeting several bases across Iraq.
It was the first major US military action in the Middle East since last Friday, when President Donald Trump abruptly suspended an intensive bombing campaign after 13 days, having been advised by commanders that the strategy had run its course.
The joint strikes potentially widen the conflict by drawing Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia into combat against Shi’ite proxies of Iran on a new front.
It was the first time during the war that Saudi Arabia had publicly declared its participation in joint strikes alongside the US.
–Reuters–
