Iran…Trump…War…Midday…7/29/2026…Attacks Resume Across the Gulf…..

“The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries,” it said on social media.

On Wednesday, American and Saudi fighter jets had attacked Iran-allied militias in Iraq, Iran fired missiles at bases in Jordan used by U.S. forces and an American-owned tanker in an Egyptian port was set on fire in an apparent drone strike.

President Trump appeared to hint at the U.S. military’s predawn barrage when he vowed on Wednesday that the United States would strike Iran in response to the attempted attacks on U.S. forces.

“We’re going to be hitting them very hard,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “Because it’s our turn to hit them.”

The exchange of attacks ended a pause in direct fighting between the United States and Iran. Since a cease-fire between those countries collapsed earlier this month, Iran-linked groups across the region have embroiled forces in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan in the war that until recently had been contained to countries along the Persian Gulf.

The United States accused the Iranian military on Wednesday of directing its allies in Iraq to attack “U.S. forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.” The Iranian foreign ministry condemned the U.S.-Saudi strikes as an attempt to broaden the conflict.

Egypt was also struck for the first time. Two ships, including a U.S.-owned gas storage tanker, caught fire after an explosion at a shipping hub, according to Kpler, a maritime tracking firm. A second maritime tracking company, Ambrey, reported that a drone attack had caused the blast.

At the Oval Office news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he had been briefed on the explosion in Egypt and implied that Iran was responsible without offering details. He said the incident was “more of the same” and issued his promise to hit Iran “very hard.”

The escalation on Wednesday began with Saudi Arabia’s joint attack with the United States on Iran-allied militias in Iraq. Since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, the kingdom has avoided becoming a direct combatant, though it has launched some secret retaliatory strikes on Iran, according to senior U.S. officials.

Also on Wednesday, the Jordanian military said it had shot down five missiles that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claimed were fired in retaliation for American aggression.

The U.S. military said that the strikes in Iraq were in response to more than 30 drone attacks by Iranian proxy groups this week. A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said the strikes killed about 20 Iranian military and technical advisers. An umbrella group for the militias confirmed at least that many fighters had been killed, which the Iraqi prime minister called “an unacceptable aggression.”

Here’s what else we’re covering.

• Iraqi militias: The Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of Shiite militias that banded together in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq, said at least 20 of its fighters had been killed in the U.S.-Saudi strikes. It has come under the authority of the national security forces in recent years, but some militias still operate with a large degree of independence. Read more ›

• Oil prices jump: The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, and West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose sharply on Wednesday after the attacks. Read more ›

• Lebanon: The Israeli military said Wednesday that Hezbollah had launched an explosive drone at one of its vehicles in southern Lebanon. A Hezbollah spokesman said the group did not claim responsibility for an operation in the ridge area. Read more ›

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ISW….Iran Update Special Report, July 29, 2026

1. The Iranian regime likely launched a “surprise attack” on US forces in Jordan on July 28 to erode the United States’ willingness to undermine the regime’s efforts to achieve its war aims, including securing Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz. The regime likely calculated that it could degrade the United States’ willingness to continue the conflict by inflicting damage or US casualties during the current “pause” in strikes.
2. The IRGC Aerospace Force conducted the attack in Jordan, but it is unclear if there was consensus among various regime factions to conduct the attack. IRGC Commander Major General Ahmad Vahidi, whom CTP-ISW continues to assess is playing an outsized role in decision-making, almost certainly supported the decision to launch the recent attack on Jordan. Those within the regime’s pro-negotiations camp may have also backed the strikes as they also seek to secure Iranian control over the strait, an end to the US military presence in the region, and other regime objectives.
3. The Iranian regime also likely sought for its attack on Jordan to signal the regime’s willingness to incur the risk of full-scale conflict with the United States in order to secure control over the strait.
4. The United States and Saudi Arabia conducted strikes targeting Iranian-backed Iraqi militia weapons and logistics supply sites across Iraq on July 28 in retaliation for Iraqi militia attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and US interests in Iraq and the region.
5. The United States and Saudi Arabia also conducted several strikes on July 28 along the Iran-Iraq border targeting sites used for the Arbaeen pilgrimages. Iran intended to use the Arbaeen pilgrimage to move weapons and advisers into Iraq, according to Israeli media.
6. The US and Saudi strikes on July 28 reportedly killed at least four IRGC Quds Force officers in Diyala Province, which underscores the IRGC’s role in overseeing Iraqi militia attacks on the Gulf states and US interests in Iraq.
7. Iran is attempting to bolster its air defense capabilities with assistance from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and improve its drone capabilities.
8. The Houthis are threatening to expand their attacks on Saudi targets, likely in order to coerce Saudi Arabia to terminate its blockade against Houthi ports and airports. Unspecified regional sources also told Reuters on July 29 that the Houthis may start to impose fees on international commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and Bab al Mandeb Strait.
9. An unspecified actor conducted a drone attack targeting a US-owned tanker at a Mediterranean port in Damietta, Egypt, on July 29.

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The Guardian….

The ​US has said it is conducting ​airstrikes ‌in ‌Iran, after a lull of several days in direct US attacks on targets in Iran.

Donald Trump said America would strike Iran hard, telling reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday: “We’re going to be hitting them very hard, because it’s our turn to hit them. They know it’s coming.”

The US military said its attacks were a “powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East”.

On Wednesday Iran launched a barrage of missiles at American military installations in Jordan – its first attack in the region since the pause in fighting – meanwhile the US partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Tehran-backed militias in Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers.

Elsewhere, drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta, according to Ambrey, a British maritime security firm. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a US-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported.

A strike on Egypt by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict. Asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible for the strikes, Trump responded: “It’s a little more of the same.”

The flare-up on multiple fronts after several days of relative calm raised the risk of a return to all-out war. It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict.

The US-Saudi strikes came hours after Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, departed his first meeting with Trump since they launched the war against Iran on 28 February.

In other news:

• The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.3% to $88 a barrel.

• The office of the Iraqi president, Nizar Amidi, called the US-Saudi airstrikes on multiple logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq “a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”.

• An oil refinery in Jazan, on the Red Sea coast, had temporarily shut down due to “relatively significant” damage from a Houthi attack on Saturday, a Saudi official told the Associated Press.

• Saudi Arabia is seeking to build an international coalition to protect ⁠shipping in the ⁠Red ​Sea from Houthi attacks, Reuters quoted two people familiar with the deliberations as saying.