On Wednesday, July 29, 2026, the United States and Saudi Arabia carried out military strikes together in Iraq. They hit groups called the Popular Mobilisation Forces, or PMF, killing at least 20 fighters. The attacks led to angry responses from Iraq's government, a missile counterattack from Iran, and threats from militias across the Middle East.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense confirmed the operation, calling it "precision strikes" against specific militia targets in Iraq, done together with US Central Command, or CENTCOM Saudi Press Agency. CENTCOM's press release, dated July 28, 2026, described the targets as "Iran-aligned terrorists" and "Iran-backed terrorist sites" without naming the PMF directly CENTCOM. The Guardian reported at least 20 PMF fighters killed The Guardian.

Here's some background to make sense of this. The PMF, also known as al-Hashd al-Shaabi, is an armed group in Iraq that includes factions closely tied to Iran. It was created in 2014 to fight the Islamic State, a violent extremist group that had seized large parts of Iraq and Syria. The PMF's operations were overseen by Iranian general Qassem Suleimani. Although the PMF was later made part of Iraq's official armed forces, its pro-Iran factions have long been a source of tension between the US and Iran, both of which compete for influence inside Iraq.

Iraq's presidency condemned the air raids as "a blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty, targeting its official institutions." Sovereignty means a country's right to control its own territory and affairs without outside interference. Iraqi armed groups separately called the joint strikes a "dangerous escalation," according to Al Jazeera Al Jazeera. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi cancelled a planned meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah scheduled for Thursday, July 30, 2026.

US President Donald Trump claimed the strikes were coordinated with the Iraqi government, which directly contradicts Baghdad's condemnation. Trump also said the US would be "hitting [Iran] hard" following the back-and-forth strikes.

Saudi Arabia's open role in this operation is a notable shift. Previously, Saudi Arabia had reportedly only taken part in secret strikes against Iran. By publicly confirming its involvement through official channels and coordinating with CENTCOM, Saudi Arabia is operating in the open for the first time in this conflict.

The response from Iran-aligned groups was fast. Iran fired missiles at US military bases in Jordan, its first attack in the region since a pause in fighting with the US began. In Yemen, Houthi rebels had announced a blockade of Saudi ports and shipping near the Red Sea about a week before the July 29 strikes. A blockade means blocking ships from entering or leaving, which can cut off trade and supplies. Iraq's Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iran-backed militia, warned that Washington's and Riyadh's interests and security would face consequences. In Mosul, northern Iraq, mourners carried the bodies of slain PMF fighters from a hospital, shouting Shia sectarian slogans and "Death to America!"

The broader context here is that several crises are escalating at the same time. The US-Saudi strikes, Iran's missile attack on US forces in Jordan, the Houthi blockade, and militia threats are all happening together, forming a pattern of coordinated pressure from the Iran-aligned side. No single ceasefire or peace effort currently covers all of these flashpoints. Saudi Arabia's choice to operate openly with the US, instead of through secret channels, reduces the diplomatic room Riyadh has traditionally kept as a go-between for Washington and Tehran. The cancellation of the al-Zaidi–bin Salman meeting in Jeddah also removes a direct diplomatic channel right when one is most needed.

There's another layer worth understanding. CENTCOM's choice to call the targets "terrorists" rather than naming the PMF matters because the PMF is officially part of Iraq's armed forces. The difference between Washington calling them "Iran-backed terrorist sites" and Baghdad calling them "official institutions" is not just about words. It affects whether the strikes are considered counterterrorism or an attack on a sovereign country's military under international law.

For countries in the region, the situation now involves a Saudi Arabia publicly committed to military action against Iraqi state-affiliated militias, an Iran that has broken a pause in attacking US forces directly, and a US president signaling more strikes to come. Each of these developments makes it harder for mediators to step in and calm things down. What makes this moment especially dangerous is that all of these pressures are happening at the same time, not one after another, converging on the same fault line in the Middle East.