Jordan intercepts Iranian missiles as US, Saudi Arabia target militias in Iraq
Jordan intercepted missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday, hours after the US military said it knocked down another Iranian barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, ending a brief pause in fighting between Tehran and Washington.
The US also said it worked with Saudi Arabia to fire on Iran-backed militias in Iraq that have targeted the kingdom in recent days. The militias said at least 20 of their fighters had been killed.
The fighting came after days in which mediators said some progress had been made in negotiations to end the war, which began Feb. 28 with American and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Although the two sides signed an interim deal in June, intense bombing resumed this month over disagreements on how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway crucial for the world's energy supplies that Iran effectively shut down during the war.
The attacks again highlight how difficult it has been for US President Donald Trump to end the war, which has caused the price of fuel and other basics to skyrocket far beyond the region and is deeply unpopular at home. In recent weeks, four US troops died during the fighting, while the Pentagon asked an increasingly skeptical Congress for money to cover the conflict's ballooning costs.
The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 3.1 percent to $84.58 US a barrel.
The Jordanian military said five missiles had been “intercepted and destroyed.” Iran's state-run IRNA news agency carried a statement from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard saying its forces fired ballistic missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and the headquarters of the US military's Central Command in Jordan.
A sudden pause in attacks by the US and Iran has prompted questions about whether the break is to allow for peace talks or because the US has largely drained its weapons supply.
Hours earlier, the US Central Command said its forces “remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness.”
In announcing the strikes against militias in Iraq, the US warned that further attacks on American troops or Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure risked additional action.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called an emergency meeting of the country's National Security Council on Wednesday to discuss the strikes.
Two Iraqi government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly said a visit to Saudi by al-Zaidi that had been scheduled for Thursday had been postponed, without another date being set.
Houthis continue blockade
Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq for a second day, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their announced blockade of the kingdom.
On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones targeting oil facilities used to transport oil from Saudi Arabia's Eastern Region to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, a key bypass for Saudi exports blocked by Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. The rebels said their attack was in response to a Saudi drone that they said breached Yemen's airspace.
Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday analyzed by The Associated Press showed damage to Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil processing facility in the kingdom's east. The facility, the world's largest crude stabilization plant, is a cornerstone of Aramco's operations, with the capacity of processing approximately seven million barrels of crude oil per day.
Attacks on Abqaiq claimed by Houthi rebels in September 2019 disrupted production of 5.7 million barrels per day, spiking global oil prices and providing an initial demonstration of the vulnerability of Saudi oil facilities to missile and drone attacks.
For the first time, Saudi Arabia has acknowledged that it took part in a US strike as part of the war with Iran. The US says it struck weapons and logistics sites in Iraq that belong to groups Saudia Arabia says launched drone attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure.
Separately, a regional official said an Aramco oil company refinery in Jazan, on Saudi's Red Sea coast, has temporarily shut down due to damage sustained from a Houthi attack on Saturday. The official described the damage as “relatively significant,” saying it would take several days to be repaired. The refinery produces 400,000 barrels per day.
The Texas-based IIR Energy consultancy agency said the Jazan oil processing facility shut down on Monday after initially operating at reduced rates since the attack two days earlier. Repairs and a tentative restart of the refinery were expected for Aug. 15, IIR Energy said.
Iran rejects the proposal
The Strait of Hormuz has been a major flashpoint in the conflict. Iran's deputy foreign minister said his country rejected a proposal by Oman, which lies on the other side of the strait, for jointly managing ship traffic through the critical waterway.
In an interview with Iran's state-run television that aired Tuesday night, Kazem Gharibabadi said the Omani proposal included dividing the strait into two routes, each allowing the transit of 50 percent of shipping passing through the waterway.
The proposal failed to address Tehran's concerns and Iran offered a counterproposal with a temporary plan for transit of vessels through Iran's territorial waters, he said, adding that Iran's policy is for the strait “never to return to its prewar situation.” Before the conflict, ships transited freely through the waterway.
“US and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 [Revolutionary Guard]-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours,” US Central Command said.
The Saudi Defense Ministry acknowledged the strikes in a post on social media, warning that the country “does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression it faces.”
The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shia, Iran-backed armed groups that is officially under the command of the Iraqi military, said at least 20 fighters were killed and 32 others wounded in the overnight strikes.
The groups making up the PMF joined in the fight against the Islamic State group after it seized large sections of Iraq in 2014. In 2016, the Iraqi government designated PMF as an “independent military formation” within the Iraqi armed forces, but in practice the member militias operate with significant autonomy. Some have launched attacks on US facilities.
The Iraqi military said the country is committed to “preventing Iraqi territory from being used as a route or launching point for any attack targeting brotherly or friendly countries.”
The Iraqi militias have denied any role in the drone attacks. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, called the Saudi claims “fabrications” and implied that Monday's attacks were carried out by the Houthis, who had themselves claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities.
