US, Saudis attack Iran-backed groups in Iraq, threatening to intensify conflict

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq on Wednesday, saying they were responsible for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, prompting Iran to warn that blaming it for such attacks was a "major miscalculation".



The strikes on targets inside Iraq come as Oman proposed a new regional deal aimed at resolving the conflict over the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.



Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday that its forces struck three oil tankers in the strait and forced them to stop after they ignored warnings for taking an "unsafe and illegal route".



The IRGC Navy said in a statement that it continued to maintain full control over the strategic waterway and warned that "unlawful U.S. military interference" and instructions to vessels in the region would not go unanswered.



The U.S.-Saudi strikes in eastern Iraq occurred just hours after the U.S. military said its air defences had averted a surprise Iranian attack on U.S. troops in the region. The IRGC said on Wednesday it had fired several ballistic missiles at U.S. military installations in Jordan.