Iran War Live Updates: U.S. and Saudi Arabia Target Iranian Proxies

 

Iran War Live Updates: U.S. and Saudi Arabia Target Iranian Proxies

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia said they had carried out joint airstrikes on Iranian proxies in Iraq. The Iranian military said it had targeted American military assets in Jordan.

 

Updated

July 29, 2026, 12:47 a.m. ET19 minutes ago

Hari RajZeke Minaya and Qasim Nauman

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07/28/world/iran-us-strikes-iraq-trump

 

Here’s the latest.

The United States and Saudi Arabia said they had carried out joint strikes on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq early Wednesday local time, and the Iranian military said that it had fired missiles at American military targets in the Middle East.

 

The attacks followed several days without full-blown fighting between the United States and Iran. Saudi Arabia, however, faced dozens of drone attacks targeting its oil facilities this week. And the Iranian-allied Houthi militia in Yemen said it had launched missiles at a Saudi oil tanker on Tuesday, its latest attack since announcing a blockade of Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.

 

U.S. Central Command said that American and Saudi forces had conducted strikes early Wednesday against Iranian proxy groups in eastern Iraq. The strikes were in response to more than 30 drone attacks in the past 72 hours after the Revolutionary Guards had directed those groups to target “U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure,” Central Command said.

 

Saudi Arabia said it had launched the strikes after Iranian-backed militias in Iraq targeted Saudi oil facilities. The Saudi foreign ministry, in a statement published by state media, said the country was not seeking escalation but would not hesitate to respond to any aggression.

 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said early Wednesday that it launched missiles at U.S. military targets in Jordan as retaliation for American aggression. The Guards statement, published by Iran’s state broadcaster, did not specify the U.S. actions that prompted its response. The Jordanian military said it had shot down five missiles launched from Iran on Wednesday morning.

 

The Revolutionary Guards said in a separate statement that its forces had struck three tankers that ignored its warnings and proceeded on an “illegal” route. It did not say where the ships were hit. Iran has been attacking vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz for months.

 

Central Command said in a separate statement that it had intercepted multiple ballistic missiles launched from Iran by the Revolutionary Guards. It did not provide details about the scale or the targets of the attack.

 

Last week, the Trump administration set aside plans to ramp up its miliary assault on Iran over concerns including its dwindling supply of air defense munitions and the threat of further global economic shock, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

 

U.S. and Iranian forces have instead focused on policing the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway through which some 20 percent of the world’s crude oil is shipped and that has become the focal point of the war.

 

Here’s what else we’re covering.

 

Iran-Ukraine diplomacy: Iran considered attacking a seaport in Ukraine in response to a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian ship last week, but a flurry of diplomatic efforts has calmed the situation for now, Iranian and Western officials said.

 

Houthi attacks: The Houthis, an Iranian-backed militia in Yemen, on Tuesday claimed another strike on a Saudi oil tanker. The ship is at least the fourth to be attacked since the group said it would blockade Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.