US-Saudi strikes in Iraq widen regional conflict as Iran targets US installations

US and Saudi forces struck sites linked to Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces on Wednesday, July 29, killing at least 20 fighters and drawing condemnation from Baghdad as the conflict involving Iran and the United States spread further across the region.

The Iraqi presidency called the attacks a violation of the country’s sovereignty and said official institutions had been targeted. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi cancelled a planned meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah following the strikes.

Iran also launched missiles at US military installations in Jordan, its first such regional attack since a brief pause in direct fighting with the United States began. US President Donald Trump said Washington would hit Iran hard, while saying the Iraq strikes had been coordinated with the Iraqi government, an assertion at odds with Baghdad’s public condemnation.

The Popular Mobilisation Forces are an umbrella network of largely Shia armed groups formed in 2014 to fight Islamic State. Several factions have close ties to Tehran. Saudi Arabia’s public participation in the Iraq strikes marks a further expansion of a conflict that has already disrupted regional security and oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.

The latest exchanges increase uncertainty over whether the fighting can be contained. They also place Iraq, which has long tried to balance relations with both Washington and Tehran, under growing pressure from military action on its territory.