The war is escalating as US-Saudi strikes target Iranian-backed Iraqi forces

Iraq’s president has condemned a joint US-Saudi offensive against Iran-backed militias in the country, which the militias said killed at least 20 people and plunged another country into a five-month war in the Middle East launched by Israel and the US on February 28.

In a statement, the Iraqi President’s Office said Wednesday that the strikes, which were the first attacks Saudi Arabia has admitted to involvement in the current conflict, were “an unacceptable attack and a clear violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”

The statement condemned “the conduct of its official security institutions in a manner that violates the rules of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.”

The Iraqi president also criticized the Iranian military directed by the US and Saudi Arabia for attacking “neighboring countries or settling regional and international scores.”

In a statement announcing the attack on groups in Iraq, the US Central Command accused the military of attacking American troops and Saudi energy infrastructure under the direction of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran’s state television said on Wednesday an American strike hit a city in the northwest of the country, on the border with Iraq.

“A few minutes ago, the border area of ​​Piranshahr was hit by an airstrike by US enemies,” state television reported, after the Fars news agency quoted an official in the West Azerbaijan province as saying that the missile had hit an uninhabited area, leaving no casualties.

The US military’s Central Command said on Tuesday night that US and Saudi forces conducted joint strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq.

US troops in the Middle East have been warned that cellphone videos they share online could help Iran target US bases, Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday.

Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of the US Central Command, in a letter to the military said that Iran is benefiting from videos posted on the Internet that can reveal whether strikes against US forces have been successful in real time.

“The direct, unavoidable cost of this open source information can be measured in the lives of American service members and civilians living in the targeted Gulf countries,” Cooper said in a July 28 letter, which a CENTCOM official confirmed was sent to CBS News.

Cooper called on US forces to “refocus our operational security focus,” without specifying specific steps in the memo.

Reuters said, citing two anonymous sources, that in Jordan, there three members of the US were recently killed in the Iranian strike on the air base, soldiers were told their cell phones could be confiscated soon, but a CENTCOM official who spoke to CBS News on Wednesday denied any such plans.

Oil prices rose again on Wednesday as there was a brief pause in the war in Iran. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell from a two-month high reached last week, but rebounded by 3.3% on Wednesday to trade around $85 a barrel.

The calm lasted for about three days following weeks of increased control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway in the Persian Gulf and a small chokepoint through which 20% of commercial oil flows.

Benchmark US crude rose 3.4% to $81.93 a barrel on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that joint strikes with US forces against Iran-backed groups in Iraq were in legitimate self-defense.

“These terrorist forces supported by Iran have chosen the path of violating international law,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the strikes were carried out in response to previous attacks by groups in Saudi Arabia.

I US and Saudi forces launched airstrikes Tuesday evening on Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, the US Central Command said, after Iran and its proxies were suspected of targeting US forces in the past few days.

The US-Saudi program was aimed at “terrorist and weapons sites in eastern Iraq,” CENTCOM said in a statement posted on social media. The Saudi Ministry of Defense also confirmed that it had “carried out direct and targeted strikes,” citing its right to defend itself.

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which is an umbrella group of Iraqi forces supported by Iran, in a statement issued on Wednesday that at least 20 of its fighters were killed and 32 wounded. The group said its headquarters in Baghdad and six other locations were hit.

CENTCOM said the strikes were related to more than 30 attempted attacks by aircraft on US and Saudi energy sites in the past three days, describing the attack on American assets as unsuccessful. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones launched in Iraq and targeted oil facilities in Riyadh and the east of the country.

The Jordanian military said the country’s defense forces intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday. In a statement, the military said the missiles were “intercepted and destroyed.” It did not name any victims.

Earlier, the US military said it shot down an Iranian missile and cooperated with the Saudi Arabian military to attack areas in Iraq where pro-Tehran forces have used attacks in recent days, disrupting fighting.

All Iranian missiles launched against US forces in the Middle East were intercepted, US Central Command said.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have raided and stopped three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards.

“Three oil tankers who violated the law, ignored our warnings and continued on an unsafe and illegal route, were hit and stopped,” Tasnim News reported.

It is not clear whether the tanks sustained significant damage, or whether any crew members were injured during the attack.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Yemen-based Houthi militant group, which is proxies to Iran, said it had fired several missiles at a Saudi-flagged missile in the Red Sea.

Iran has launched several ballistic missiles at US military forces in the Middle East in what the US Central Command described as a “sudden attack attempt.”

CENTCOM said the missiles were launched at 5:45 pm ET Tuesday by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. All were “successfully apprehended,” according to CENTCOM.

“The US military remains on high alert and at a high state of readiness,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

The White House meeting between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “was very good,” according to a senior Israeli source who accompanied Netanyahu to the meeting.

“It was a very good meeting,” said the source. “The Prime Minister and the President had a very good and wide-ranging discussion about the important issues of the day, first and foremost Iran. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons.”

The meeting held that there might be tension, emphasizing the comments of Mr. Trump on Fox News just before the meeting. In response to a reporter’s question about Netanyahu wanting to discuss Pickaxe Mountain, Iran’s supposed nuclear facility, he said, “I don’t need Bibi to tell me that.”

“Bibi is telling me that because he wants me to stay involved,” said Mr. Trump told Fox News. “I said, ‘Why didn’t you just tell me, why do you have to announce it to the world?’

“I know exactly what happened to Pickaxe. It’s not a big problem,” added Mr. Trump.

The meeting lasted a little over an hour.