Jordan intercepts Iranian missiles as US and Saudi Arabia launch strikes against militias in Iraq

In announcing the strikes in Iraq, the U.S. 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 Wednesday to discuss the strikes.

The United States and Iran had experienced a period of calm, during which neither announced attacks for about three days following weeks of escalation over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway and narrow chokepoint through which 20% of the world’s traded oil normally flows.

The fighting flared at the end of a month packed with multiple pressure points on U.S. President Donald Trump. In recent weeks, four U.S. troops died during the fighting, while the Pentagon asked an increasingly skeptical Congress for money to cover the conflict’s ballooning costs.

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 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% 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.

Saudi Arabia and US strike Iran-backed militias in Iraq

“U.S. and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours,” U.S. Central Command said, using an acronym for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

It said the Revolutionary Guard “and its terrorist proxies must cease these attacks to avoid further U.S. military response.”

The Saudi Defense Ministry acknowledged the strikes in a post on social media, warning that “the Kingdom emphasizes that it does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression it faces.”

The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite, Iran-backed armed groups that is officially under the command of the Iraqi military, said in a statement that at least 20 fighters were killed and 32 others wounded in the overnight strikes on its sites in several parts of Iraq.

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 have continued to operate with significant autonomy. Some of them have launched attacks on U.S. facilities.

Saudi Arabia says it shot down drones

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.

Al-Zaidi, the Iraqi leader, ordered security agencies to investigate after the Saudis alleged a similar attack on Monday. 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.

Iranian state-run media says tankers hit in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Wednesday that the Revolutionary Guard’s Navy claimed it had struck and stopped three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. It said the strikes came after the vessels allegedly ignored repeated warnings and continued sailing along what it described as an “unsafe and illegal route.” The report did not identify the tankers or the flags they were sailing under.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of any strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Houthis claimed to have fired missiles at the Saudi oil tanker NCC Ghazal in the Red Sea, forcing it to turn back. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia on the claim. Last week, the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, putting another key Middle Eastern waterway — through the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea — at risk.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said late Tuesday that a tanker reported hearing explosions while traveling in the southern Red Sea the previous day. It did not name the tanker but said the crew and vessel were safe. It did not report strikes against tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.

The rebels fired on at least one Saudi tanker in the Red Sea last week.

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Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.

Samy Magdy And Elena Becatoros, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Jordan intercepts Iranian missiles as US and Saudi Arabia launch strikes against militias in Iraq

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