Iranupdated 1h ago3 min read
United States And Saudi Arabia Strike Iran-Backed Groups In Iraq After Drone Attacks
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U.S. and Saudi strikes hit Iran-backed groups in eastern Iraq after drone attacks. The strikes followed U.S. air defenses intercepting attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
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Strikes, missiles, and denials
The United States and Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq on Wednesday, and they said the groups were responsible for drone attacks that targeted Saudi oil facilities. Iran warned that blaming it for such attacks would be “a serious miscalculation,” and an Iranian defense official, speaking on Iran’s official television, denied any Iranian involvement in the projectiles launched toward Saudi targets. The American military announced that its air defenses had repelled a surprise Iranian attack on American forces in the region, according to Reuters, and the Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that it fired several ballistic missiles at American military facilities in Jordan.
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed several drones targeting oil facilities in the kingdom’s eastern region, and Saudi Defense Ministry spokesperson, Major General Turki al-Maliki, said the Iranian-backed militias launched the attacks from Iraqi soil. CENTCOM and the Saudi Defense Ministry later said the two countries targeted several sites across eastern Iraq, which they said Iran used to launch drone attacks.
Iran’s readiness for asymmetry
Major General Amir Hatami, commander-in-chief of the Iranian Army, said Iran has reached a high level of maturity in the field of unmanned vehicles and that the armed forces are fully prepared for asymmetric warfare. Hatami made the remarks during a visit to an army combat drone production center, and he said unmanned weapons, including drones, unmanned surface vessels, and micro air vehicles, now have diverse missions and hold a special place in Iran’s defense doctrine. Hatami said Iran is “highly active in the production, distribution, and maintenance of these weapons,” and he added that combatants have received the necessary training and possess excellent skills.
Hatami also said the Army has deployed sea mines to enforce maritime regulations, and he warned that if an enemy vessel enters, it will definitely be targeted. Hatami framed the naval blockade as part of the war, saying “We consider the naval blockade as part of the war, and those enforcing the blockade are treated as the enemy.”
What comes next in the region
Iran said it would halt firing as long as Washington does the same, and CENTCOM said on Tuesday that Iran launched several ballistic missiles “in what was an attempt at a surprise attack on American forces stationed in the Middle East,” and the missiles were successfully intercepted. WANA said Hatami warned that any enemy vessels entering the designated operational area in the Sea of Oman would be targeted, and it said Iran considers the party enforcing the blockade an enemy. Hatami said the Army has a strong presence at sea and on the coast in the east of the Strait of Hormuz, and he said the enemy has not dared to enter the Sea of Oman because it has realized that a powerful force is in control there.
Hatami said the Army is monitoring developments and that it will respond from the very same areas the enemy uses, and he described the adversary as entirely untrustworthy. The sources also tied the current escalation to oil market fears, with oil prices rising by more than three dollars per barrel on Wednesday after the American-Saudi strikes, amid fears of a broader confrontation.