{"id":550592,"date":"2026-07-30T03:23:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T03:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/550592\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T03:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T03:23:16","slug":"iran-launches-new-missile-attacks-amid-us-saudi-strikes-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/550592\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran launches new missile attacks amid US-Saudi strikes in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran launched a barrage of missiles at American forces in the Middle East early Thursday as the US partnered with Saudi Arabia<\/a> to strike Tehran-backed militias<\/a> in neighbouring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters.<\/p>\n

Six Iranian advisers were also killed in the US-Saudi strike, two Iraqi militia officials told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at an Egyptian port, a maritime security firm said. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a US-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker at Damietta. No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n

\"Iraqis<\/p>\n

Iraqis inspect damaged structures at the site of an airstrike on a Popular Mobilization Forces base in Mosul, Iraq. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Egypt, a close US ally and regional mediator, is one of the only countries in the Middle East<\/a> to have been spared from direct military action during the war. A strike by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict.<\/p>\n

The flare-up 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 US is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a Fox News reporter said in an on-air segment that he spoke with US President Donald Trump<\/a> who, using a series of vulgarities, told him the US will hit back hard in response to the Iranian attacks.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 the Houthi rebels in Yemen<\/a> \u2014 said they had attacked Saudi energy facilities as part of a separate but related conflict.<\/p>\n

Before the latest eruption, mediators had expressed optimism<\/a> about bringing the US 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.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC on July 27, 2026 shows smoke rising from the Saudi Aramco oil processing facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 3.1% to US$84.58 a barrel.<\/p>\n

Jordan intercepts missiles and US strikes militias in Iraq<\/p>\n

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it fired ballistic missiles at Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a key US military hub for the region, in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency.<\/p>\n

Jordan\u2019s military said five Iranian missiles had been intercepted and destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.<\/p>\n

The US 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 Defence Ministry warned that it \u201cdoes not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression”.<\/p>\n

The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite, 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.<\/p>\n

Those groups joined the fight against the Islamic State group after it seized large sections of Iraq in 2014. The Iraqi government later designated it as an \u201cindependent military formation\u201d within the armed forces, but the militias have significant autonomy, and some have attacked US facilities.<\/p>\n

The office of Iraqi President Nizar Amidi condemned Wednesday\u2019s US-Saudi airstrikes, calling them “an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of Iraq\u2019s sovereignty, targeting its official security institutions”.<\/p>\n

Iraq\u2019s National Security Council also condemned the strikes, saying in a statement that they 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.\u201d It said \u201ca number of innocent people\u201d had been killed and wounded.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Attacks on Saudi oil facilities could worsen global energy crisis<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The rebels said their attack was in response to a Saudi drone they said had breached Yemen\u2019s airspace.<\/p>\n

Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday analysed by The Associated Press showed damage to Saudi Aramco\u2019s Abqaiq oil-processing facility. The massive facility is capable of processing approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A damaged vehicle at the site of an airstrike on a Popular Mobilization Forces base in Mosul, Iraq. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In 2019, attacks on Abqaiq claimed by the Houthis disrupted production of 5.7 million barrels per day, spiking global oil prices and demonstrating the vulnerability of Saudi oil facilities to missile and drone attacks.<\/p>\n

Separately, a regional official said an oil refinery in Jazan, on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, has temporarily shut down due to “relatively significant” damage from a Houthi attack on Saturday. The official, who was not authorized to brief journalists and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would take several days to be repaired. The refinery produces 400,000 barrels per day.<\/p>\n

The Texas-based IIR Energy consultancy said the refinery was tentatively expected to restart on Aug. 15.<\/p>\n

Iran rejects Oman proposal for managing Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n

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, to jointly manage ship traffic.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Iran\u2019s state-run television, Kazem Gharibabadi said Oman’s proposal included dividing the strait into two routes, each allowing the transit of half the shipping through the waterway.<\/p>\n

Iran offered a counterproposal with a temporary plan for transit of vessels through its territorial waters, he said, adding that Tehran’s policy is for the strait \u201cnever to return to its pre-war situation,\u201d when ships moved freely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran launched a barrage of missiles at American forces in the Middle East early Thursday as the US…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,5107,43,64,40,38,41,39,66],"class_list":["post-550592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}