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booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riotsIran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi RihDeath toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off FloresIsraeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truceColombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbsRhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactorUS readies unprecedented economic measures against IranUS boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacksBond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildoutAlibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloadsDeath toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinkingTaliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisisEU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfireUS presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupiedMokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit MaribSeoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drillsChina-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field testOpenAI revenue run rate passes $40bn as revenue chief departsHamas leader in Cairo as Kushner trip nearsWHO says Congo's Ebola outbreak is outpacing the responseTurkish parliament passes amnesty law for PKK membersMorocco detains scores near Ceuta as feared mass crossing fails to materialiseChina publishes ecology reports to bolster South China Sea claimsMyanmar says more than 300,000 Rohingya verified for repatriationPetrobras detects signs of oil off the mouth of the AmazonChina condemns Japanese politicians' moves at Yasukuni ShrineUS inflation cools as wages again lag behind pricesModi offers free exam coaching after youth protests in IndiaOil from grounded Russian tanker reaches Oman's coastPanama Canal cuts draught again as Mexico pitches rival corridorUkraine's idle ports cost $1.75bn as farm exports fallFormer Chinese premier Zhu Rongji diesAt least 20 killed in communal clashes in central NigeriaIran accuses Qatar of holding three of its pilotsXi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter ChinaVenezuela frees 131 more political prisonersMore Syrians in Germany lose refugee protectionAudit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defencesIndia drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firmsHichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumesParis prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hackReport details leverage behind Situational Awareness lossesArgentina has lost 30,633 companies under MileiAt least five dead in Indiana floodingIran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltrationCanadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signaturesIndia raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility earlyOpaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and MaltaBritain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stallThird drone debris find in a day on Turkish coastsForecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El NiñoSecondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riots
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Symbolic image: Iraq-Gulf ties strained after US-Saudi strikes on Iran-aligned militiasSymbolic image

Iraq-Gulf ties strained after US-Saudi strikes on Iran-aligned militias

2 sources

US and Saudi aircraft bombed bases of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces on Wednesday, killing at least 20 fighters by the PMF's own count and marking the first joint Saudi-American operation of the five-month war with Iran. Hours later US Central Command opened what it called a heavy wave of strikes on dozens of IRGC targets inside Iran, retaliating for Iranian missile fire on US bases in Jordan. Baghdad has since postponed a planned prime ministerial visit to Riyadh.

What happened

On Wednesday, 29 July, US and Saudi jets struck bases of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), the umbrella of state-sanctioned paramilitary factions in Iraq. The PMF says the raids killed 20 of its fighters. Saudi Arabia's military had said a day earlier that it intercepted drone attacks on its oil facilities launched by Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, and Riyadh justified the operation as self-defence under the UN Charter; a Saudi defence ministry spokesman said the kingdom does not seek escalation but will respond decisively to aggression. It was the first time in the five-month war with Iran that Saudi forces acted militarily alongside the United States. At 8 p.m. Washington time the same day, CENTCOM began what it called a heavy wave of strikes on dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets in Iran, including command centres, missile and drone facilities and coastal defence sites, in response to Iran's ballistic missile attacks on US bases in Jordan on Tuesday, 28 July; agencies reported explosions in Bushehr and Bandar Abbas. Iraq's prime minister postponed a planned visit to Saudi Arabia the following day.

The view from outside

The National in Abu Dhabi frames the strikes as one of two fronts closing in on Saudi Arabia, alongside Yemen, where the Houthis have attacked Saudi shipping and claimed hits on oil sites at Jizan and Yanbu. It notes that Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Jordan have all been struck by Iranian missiles and drones and that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Analysts it cites argue Baghdad opposes militia attacks on its neighbours but lacks the sovereignty to stop them.

What could happen next

The postponed Riyadh trip signals damage to Baghdad's years-long effort to build Gulf ties, including its role in mediating between Saudi Arabia and Iran. An official close to the Iraqi prime minister told The National the visit will still happen at some point, and Iraqi officials insist the country is not an arena for settling scores. Saudi Arabia's defence minister discussed the strikes with the US president and vice president at the White House hours after they were carried out, according to a regional source.

How the camps see it

  • United States: CENTCOM says the strikes reduce threats from Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping and Gulf neighbours.

  • Saudi Arabia: Riyadh calls the raids self-defence under the UN Charter after drone attacks on its oil facilities and says it does not seek escalation.

  • Iran and allied militias: Tehran struck US bases in Jordan first, and the PMF reports 20 of its fighters killed and 32 wounded in the Iraqi raids.

  • Iraq: Baghdad says it is not an arena for settling scores, postponed its prime minister's Riyadh visit, and concedes it cannot stop militias launching from its soil.

Also involved

Gulf states and JordanHouthis in Yemen

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