At least 20 people were killed in joint U.S.-Saudi strikes on Iranian-backed forces in Iraq on Tuesday night, in what became the first confirmed military attack by a Persian Gulf state since the broader Middle East war began five months ago.
U.S. Central Command said the strikes targeted what it described as "terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq." Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense confirmed its participation, citing its right to self-defense.
The Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella paramilitary group operating in Iraq, said 20 of its fighters were killed in the attacks. Iraq's government condemned the strikes immediately. The National Security Council convened an emergency meeting Wednesday chaired by Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi. A statement from Al-Zaidi's office said the council "expressed its condemnation and denunciation" of the joint strikes and said they had caused "the deaths and injuries of a number of innocent martyrs and civilians."
Iraq's government said it was communicating with both the U.S. and Saudi sides to verify what had happened, and the National Security Council decided to "establish a comprehensive security plan to secure the ground, confront any violation of Iraq's sovereignty, and prevent any source from posing a threat to neighboring countries."
One of the Iran-aligned factions, Harakat al-Nujaba, threatened retaliation. The group, which operates under the PMF umbrella and maintains ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, called on Baghdad to sever diplomatic ties with Riyadh and expel all U.S. forces from Iraqi territory.
The strikes came as fighting continued to spread across the region. Jordan's military said it intercepted a new barrage of Iranian missiles on Wednesday. The U.S. military said it had also thwarted what it described as a "surprise attack" by Iran targeting American forces in the region the previous day.
President Trump told Fox News on Wednesday that the U.S. would "be hitting them hard" when asked about responding to the new Iranian attacks. According to CBS News, Trump said Iran would "get a beating."
Saudi Arabia's involvement marks a significant shift in the conflict's geography. Before Tuesday night, no Persian Gulf state had publicly acknowledged carrying out offensive strikes against Iran or its allies since the war began. The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races on the Formula One calendar had already been canceled earlier this year because of the conflict, with other regional events now also under review.
