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U.S. and Saudi forces launched strikes on Iranian proxies in Iraq overnight, spiking energy prices and fueling fears of a wider war as the war with Iran hits the five-month mark.
Saudi Arabia responded to a streak of drone strikes from Iran-backed militias that targeted its Aramco’s Abqaiq oil processing facility. It is the world’s largest crude stabilization plant and has the capacity to produce approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day, according to The Associated Press.
Houthi rebels also attacked an Aramco oil company refinery in Jazan, Saudi Arabia, over the weekend, causing the space to temporarily shut down, days after a Saudi oil tanker was attacked while attempting to transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — a critical southern gateway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Additionally, Tehran attacked another U.S. base in Jordan on Tuesday evening, in strikes that U.S. Central Command described as “unwarranted.” The Jordanian military said five missiles were “intercepted and destroyed” this week.
The first round of joint U.S. and Saudi strikes launched in retaliation to the repeated attacks caused the death of 20 militia fighters, the AP reported.
It also sparked a 3.44 percent increase in Brent crude oil, resulting in the price of $81.46 per barrel as of Wednesday morning.
The renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran in addition to its proxies came after Tehran rejected Oman’s proposal for joint management of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil routes. The plan would have equally split transit between two separate pathways for safe transit.
Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs of Iran, said the country’s hope is for the strait to “never to return to its prewar situation” during an interview aired on state media, according to the AP.
Iran has continued to threaten vessels it has accused of transiting the strait without permission, which sparked the renewal of U.S. strikes earlier this month after a temporary ceasefire fell apart. The U.S. had paused strikes in the region Saturday, after two weeks of consecutive fighting.
Iran and Iraq are the two biggest Shi’ite-majority countries and the two maintain deep economic ties despite Baghdad’s pledge of neutrality in conflicts with Tehran.
Iraqi government officials requested a meeting with the U.S. and Iran to discuss the current war, according to Reuters.
However, Iran has shown it has no intent to back down.
“Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response,” Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on social platform X earlier this month.
“Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets,” he added.
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