Iran resumes missile attacks as U.S. and Saudis strike Tehran-backed militias in Iraq
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- Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired ballistic missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and U.S. Central Command headquarters in Jordan early Wednesday; Jordan's military said it intercepted all five missiles with no immediate casualties reported.
- U.S. and Saudi fighter jets struck Iran-backed militia logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, killing at least 20 Popular Mobilization Forces fighters and wounding 32 others.
- Houthi rebels separately attacked Saudi energy infrastructure serving the Red Sea port of Yanbu, with Planet Labs satellite imagery showing damage to Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq facility, which can process roughly 7 million barrels per day.
- Iran rejected an Omani proposal to jointly manage Strait of Hormuz shipping with a 50/50 traffic split, with Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi insisting the waterway "never return to its prewar situation."
- Brent crude jumped 3.1% to $84.58 a barrel on the renewed hostilities, while a Saudi refinery in Jazan producing 400,000 barrels per day remained shut down after a Houthi strike, with repairs not expected until August 15.
- Iraqi President Nizar Amidi condemned the U.S.-Saudi airstrikes as "an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty," and Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi postponed a scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia and convened an emergency National Security Council meeting.
Why it matters: Brent crude jumped 3.1% to $84.58 as the five-month conflict reignited across multiple fronts, with a 400,000-barrel-per-day Saudi refinery now offline until August 15. Iran killed Oman's diplomatic proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and Iraq publicly condemned the U.S.-Saudi strikes as a sovereignty violation, removing the remaining off-ramps from a war that the source notes is "unpopular among Americans."
