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Jordan intercepts Iranian missiles as U.S. and Saudi Arabia strike militias in Iraq

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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Jordan intercepts Iranian missiles as U.S.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Iran fires missiles as U.S.
− and Saudi Arabia strike militias in Iraq Jordan intercepted five missiles launched from Iran, the country's military said, hours after the U.S.
+ and Saudis strike militias in Iraq The flare-up on multiple fronts raised the risk of a return to all-out war, underscoring the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy.
− military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces.
+ Special Series Middle East conflict Conflict in the Middle East has been escalating.
− Middle East Jordan intercepts Iranian missiles as U.S.
+ These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them. By The Associated Press This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC on July 27 shows smoke rising from the Saudi Aramco oil processing facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia.
− and Saudi Arabia strike militias in Iraq July 29, 20265:07 AM ET By The Associated Press This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC on July 27, 2026 shows smoke rising from the Saudi Aramco oil processing facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, 2026.
+ Planet Labs PBC via AP hide caption CAIRO — Iran launched a barrage of missiles at American forces in the Middle East early Wednesday as the U.S.
− Planet Labs PBC/via AP hide caption CAIRO — Jordan's air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday, the country's military said, hours after the U.S. military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting.
+ partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Tehran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters.
− The Jordanian military said the missiles had been "intercepted and destroyed." Iran's state-run IRNA news agency carried a statement from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard saying the Guard's Aerospace Force fired ballistic missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and the headquarters of the U.S.
+ The flare-up on multiple fronts, after several days of relative calm, raised the risk of a return to all-out war.
− military's Central Command in Jordan. Hours earlier, the U.S.
+ It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy and is unpopular among Americans.
− Central Command said its forces "remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness," and that they had also worked with Saudi Arabia's forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days.
+ It was also likely to add to concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies.
− In announcing the strikes in Iraq, the U.S.
+ Saudi Arabia had accused the Iraqi militias of firing drones against its oil facilities over the past two days.
− warned that further attacks on American troops or Saudi Arabia 's energy infrastructure risked additional action.
+ An umbrella group of Iraqi militias initially denied the allegations, while another Iran-backed group — the Houthi rebels in Yemen — said they had attacked Saudi energy facilities as part of a separate but related conflict.
− Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called an emergency meeting of the country's National Security Council Wednesday to discuss the strikes. The United States and Iran had experienced a period of calm, during which neither announced attacks for about three days following weeks of escalation over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway and narrow chokepoint through which 20% of the world's traded oil normally flows. The fighting flared at the end of a month packed with multiple pressure points on U.S.
+ Before the latest eruption, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the U.S.
− President Donald Trump.
+ and Iran back to the negotiating table.
− In recent weeks, four U.S.
+ An interim agreement collapsed in recent weeks over renewed fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies that Iranian attacks have again effectively closed. The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking.
− troops died during the fighting, while the Pentagon asked an increasingly skeptical Congress for money to cover the conflict's ballooning costs.
+ Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 3.1% to $84.58 a barrel.
− "U.S.
+ Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it fired ballistic missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and the headquarters of the U.S.
− and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours," U.S.
+ military's Central Command in Jordan, in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. Jordan's military said five Iranian missiles had been intercepted and destroyed.
− Central Command said, using an acronym for Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
+ There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
− It said the Revolutionary Guard "and its terrorist proxies must cease these attacks to avoid further U.S.
+ The U.S.
− military response." The Saudi Defense Ministry acknowledged the strikes in a post on social media, warning that "the Kingdom emphasizes that it does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression it faces." The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite, Iran-backed armed groups that is officially under the command of the Iraqi military, said in a statement that at least 20 fighters were killed and 32 others wounded in the overnight strikes on its sites in several parts of Iraq.
+ military later announced that American and Saudi fighter aircraft had struck multiple logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq in response to the alleged drone attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Defense Ministry warned that it "does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression." The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite, Iran-backed armed groups that is officially under the command of the Iraqi military, said at least 20 fighters were killed and 32 others wounded in the overnight strikes.
− The groups making up the PMF joined in the fight against the Islamic State group after it seized large sections of Iraq in 2014. In 2016, the Iraqi government designated PMF as an "independent military formation" within the Iraqi armed forces, but in practice the member militias have continued to operate with significant autonomy.
+ Small boats line the shore as cargo ships and other commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026.
− Some of them have launched attacks on U.S.
+ Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP hide caption The groups making up the PMF joined in the fight against the Islamic State group after it seized large sections of Iraq in 2014.
+ The Iraqi government later designated PMF as an "independent military formation" within the armed forces, but in practice the militias have significant autonomy, and some have attacked U.S.
facilities.
− Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq for a second day, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their announced blockade of the kingdom.
+ The office of Iraqi President Nizar Amidi condemned Wednesday's U.S.-Saudi airstrikes, calling them "an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty, targeting its official security institutions." The statement also said Iraq should not be a "launching pad or arena for attacks against neighboring countries or for settling regional and international scores." It called for dialogue and de-escalation.
− Al-Zaidi, the Iraqi leader, ordered security agencies to investigate after the Saudis alleged a similar attack on Monday. The Iraqi military said the country is committed to "preventing Iraqi territory from being used as a route or launching point for any attack targeting brotherly or friendly countries." The Iraqi militias have denied any role in the drone attacks. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, called the Saudi claims "fabrications" and implied that Monday's attacks were carried out by the Houthis, who had themselves claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities.
+ Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called an emergency meeting of the country's National Security Council Wednesday to discuss the strikes.
− Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Wednesday that the Revolutionary Guard's Navy claimed it had struck and stopped three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
+ Two Iraqi government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly said a visit to Saudi Arabia by al-Zaidi that had been scheduled for Thursday had been postponed indefinitely. Saudi Arabia is also locked in a renewed conflict with the Houthis.
− It said the strikes came after the vessels allegedly ignored repeated warnings and continued sailing along what it described as an "unsafe and illegal route." The report did not identify the tankers or the flags they were sailing under.
+ The rebels have declared a blockade of Saudi shipping that could choke off another crucial trade route in the Middle East running through the Bab el-Mandeb strait between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
− Small boats line the shore as cargo ships and other commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026.
+ On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones targeting oil facilities used to transport oil from Saudi Arabia's Eastern Region to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, a key bypass for Saudi exports blocked by Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. The rebels said their attack was in response to a Saudi drone that they said had breached Yemen's airspace. Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday analyzed by The Associated Press showed damage to Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil processing facility in the kingdom's east.
− Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP hide caption There was no immediate independent confirmation of any strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday.
+ The massive facility is capable of processing approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.
− On Tuesday, the Houthis claimed to have fired missiles at the Saudi oil tanker NCC Ghazal in the Red Sea, forcing it to turn back.
+ Attacks on Abqaiq claimed by the Houthis in 2019 disrupted production of 5.7 million barrels per day, spiking global oil prices and providing an initial demonstration of the vulnerability of Saudi oil facilities to missile and drone attacks. Separately, a regional official said an oil refinery in Jazan, on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, has temporarily shut down due to "relatively significant" damage from a Houthi attack on Saturday.
− There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia on the claim.
+ The official, who was not authorized to brief journalists and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would take several days to be repaired.
− Last week, the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, putting another key Middle Eastern waterway — through the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea — at risk.
+ The refinery produces 400,000 barrels per day.
− The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said late Tuesday that a tanker reported hearing explosions while traveling in the southern Red Sea the previous day.
+ The Texas-based IIR Energy consultancy said the facility shut down on Monday after initially operating at reduced rates since the attack two days earlier.
− It did not name the tanker but said the crew and vessel were safe.
+ Repairs and a tentative restart of the refinery were expected for Aug.
− It did not report strikes against tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.
+ 15, it said.
− The rebels fired on at least one Saudi tanker in the Red Sea last week.
+ The Strait of Hormuz has been a major flashpoint in the conflict. Iran's deputy foreign minister said his country rejected a proposal by Oman, which lies on the other side of the strait, for jointly managing ship traffic.
+ In an interview with Iran's state-run television that aired Tuesday night, Kazem Gharibabadi said the Omani proposal included dividing the strait into two routes, each allowing the transit of 50% of shipping passing through the waterway. Iran offered a counterproposal with a temporary plan for transit of vessels through its territorial waters, he said, adding that Iran's policy is for the strait "never to return to its prewar situation." Before the conflict, ships transited freely.
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