TARGET. Damage at a site belonging to Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces following airstrikes that the PMF said were carried out by US and Saudi forces, in Bartella, Nineveh province, Iraq, July 29, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone.
Khalid Al-Mousily/REUTERS
(1st UPDATE) Washington and Riyadh say they jointly struck Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets
The United States launched on Wednesday, July 29, its first airstrikes in the Middle East since suspending its bombing campaign last week, hitting Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq jointly with Saudi Arabia, while Tehran spurned an Omani plan to manage the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran said it had fired on ships in the strait and at US bases in Jordan, and oil prices rose again as renewed combat and diplomatic setbacks signaled no quick end to the war the United States and Israel started in February.
