BAGHDAD: The U.S. military said Wednesday that it launched strikes on Iranian targets in response to Tehran's attack on American forces in the Middle East. The latest barrage came after the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers.
The new strikes on Iran are "a powerful response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attack," U.S. Central Command said in a post on social media Wednesday evening.
U.S. President Donald Trump had vowed to retaliate after Iran targeted a base in Jordan that hosts U.S. troops.
Elsewhere, drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a U.S.-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported.
The flare-ups on multiple fronts after several days of relative calm raised the risk of a return to all-out war. It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy and is unpopular among Americans. The fighting was also likely to add to concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies.
Egypt, a close U.S. ally and regional mediator, is one of the only countries in the Middle East to have been spared direct military action during the war. A strike by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict.
Asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible for the strikes on the natural gas vessels, Trump responded: "It's a little more of the same."
"It's going to be straightening out," he added Wednesday afternoon. "In the meantime, we're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them."
Saudi Arabia had accused the Iraqi militias of firing drones against its oil facilities over the past two days. An umbrella group of Iraqi militias initially denied the allegations, while another Iran-backed group — the Houthi rebels in Yemen — said they had attacked Saudi energy facilities as part of a separate but related conflict.
Before the latest eruption, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table. An interim agreement collapsed in recent weeks over renewed fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies that Iranian attacks have again effectively closed.
A regional official said mediators are "still trying with both sides" to restore calm and get the ceasefire back on track. He gave no details on whether progress was being made and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door diplomacy.
Regional countries will continue to push to de-escalate the situation, said an Arab official, adding that prospects for successful mediation were slim as both sides continue to launch attacks on the other and have shown no inclination to stop. "We're in a very bad place right now," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe an internal assessment of the situation.
The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.3% to $88.093 a barrel.
Jordan intercepts missiles and US strikes militias in Iraq
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it fired ballistic missiles at Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a key U.S. military hub for the region, in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency.
Jordan's military said five Iranian missiles had been intercepted and destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The U.S. military later announced that American and Saudi fighter aircraft had struck multiple logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq in response to the alleged drone attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Defense Ministry warned it "does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression."
The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite Iranian-backed armed groups that is officially under the command of the Iraqi military, said at least 20 fighters were killed and 32 wounded in the overnight strikes.
Six Iranian advisers were also killed, according to two Iraqi militia officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. Iran's deputy governor for political, security and social affairs in Markazi province told Iranian state media that four advisers were killed.
The coalition joined the fight against the Islamic State group after it seized large sections of Iraq in 2014. The Iraqi government later designated the coalition as an "independent military formation" within the armed forces, but the militias have significant autonomy and some have attacked U.S. facilities.
Iraq's government decried the U.S.-Saudi attacks, though a Fox News reporter said in an on-air segment that Trump told him they were done in coordination with the Iraqi government.
The office of Iraqi President Nizar Amidi called the airstrikes "a blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty."
Iraq's National Security Council said the strikes had been carried out "while the Iraqi government was in contact with relevant parties to investigate and address all the concerns raised by the Saudi and American sides." It said "a number of innocent people" had been killed and wounded.
A visit to Saudi Arabia by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi that had been scheduled for Thursday was postponed indefinitely, said two Iraqi government officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Attacks on Saudi oil facilities could worsen global energy crisis
Saudi Arabia is also locked in a renewed conflict with the Houthis. The rebels have declared a blockade of Saudi shipping that could choke off another crucial Middle East trade route, the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden.
On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones targeting oil facilities used to transport oil across Saudi Arabia 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 the attack was in response to a Saudi drone they said had breached Yemen's airspace.
Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday analyzed by AP showed damage to Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil-processing facility. The massive facility is capable of processing approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.
Iran rejects Oman proposal for managing Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz has been a major flashpoint in the conflict. Iran's deputy foreign minister said his country had rejected a proposal from Oman, which lies on the other side of the strait, to jointly manage ship traffic.
In an interview with Iran's state-run television, Kazem Gharibabadi said Oman's proposal included dividing the strait into two routes.
Iran offered a counterproposal with a temporary plan for the transit of vessels through its territorial waters, he said, adding that Tehran's policy is for the strait "never to return to its prewar situation," when ships moved freely.
