By Ahmed Tolba and Muhammad Al GebalyWednesday July 29, 2026
Smoke billows after strikes on the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jizan in a screengrab taken on July 25, 2026, from an undated user-generated video posted on social media and verified by AFPTV [AFP]
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that its military, working with U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), launched “targeted strikes” against Iran-backed groups in Iraq accused of carrying out drone attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities.
CENTCOM said the operation came after more than 30 drone attacks during the previous 72 hours, which it said were “directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure”.
The Saudi Defence Ministry said the strikes hit groups in Iraq that it blamed for attacks on oil facilities in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. Riyadh did not seek an escalation, the ministry said, but would respond to any “aggression”.
Iran rejected allegations that it was involved in attacks against Saudi targets. An unnamed military official quoted by state broadcaster IRIB said on Wednesday that blaming Iran for attacks on U.S. interests across the region was a “major miscalculation”.
The U.S.-Saudi operation was announced just hours after Saudi Arabia said its air defences had intercepted and destroyed several drones launched from Iraq, marking the second such attack in less than two days.
Saudi Defence Ministry spokesperson Turki al-Malki said on Tuesday that the drones had been launched by groups in Iraq he described as Iran-backed. He added that Riyadh retained the right to respond “at the appropriate time and place”.
Two members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces were wounded in an air strike on the group’s command headquarters in the southern city of Basra, its local directorate said on Wednesday, according to Iraqi news agency INA.
The PMF, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi, is an umbrella organization made up largely of Shi’ite paramilitary factions. It was formally incorporated into Iraq’s state security forces and includes several groups aligned with Iran.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the drone attacks on Monday, saying Baghdad would not permit Iraqi territory to be used as a launchpad for attacks against neighbouring countries.
Reporting by Muhammad Al Gebaly and Ahmed Tolba; Additional Reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Mark Porter, Sanjeev Miglani and Michael Perry
