{"id":218662,"date":"2026-07-29T07:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T07:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-says-it-intercepted-surprise-iran-missile-attack-on-its-forces-in-middle-east-after-lull-in-fighting-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T07:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T07:47:09","slug":"us-says-it-intercepted-surprise-iran-missile-attack-on-its-forces-in-middle-east-after-lull-in-fighting-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-says-it-intercepted-surprise-iran-missile-attack-on-its-forces-in-middle-east-after-lull-in-fighting-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"US says it intercepted \u2018surprise\u2019 Iran missile attack on its forces in Middle East after lull in fighting – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oil price spikes after flare-up of fighting and claimed Iranian attacks on three tankers in strait of Hormuz
The US military said it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia<\/a> forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days.
In what Washington cast \u2060as \u201can attempted surprise \u2060attack\u201d by Tehran, Iran<\/a> had launched multiple ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting. Iran\u2019s target was a US base in Jordan, Axios cited a US official as saying.
US central command (Centcom) said all Iranian missiles launched on Tuesday were intercepted, and the US warned any further attacks on American troops or Saudi Arabia\u2019s energy infrastructure would trigger retaliatory strikes.
The joint US-Saudi strikes on targets in Iraq killed several people and wounded others, Iraq\u2019s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) said. The PMF is an Iraqi state security service that Iran has infiltrated.
In a further sign that the lull in fighting could be over, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards claimed on Wednesday to have struck and halted three \u201cviolating\u201d oil tankers sailing an \u201cillegal\u201d route in the strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported. The price of Brent crude oil rose after news of the flare-up, hovering around $88 per barrel.
Both sides had held fire over the weekend<\/a>, after nearly two weeks of nightly strikes by the US on Iran, and repeated missile and drone salvoes by Tehran targeting Washington\u2019s allies around the Gulf.
Oil prices had plummeted after the weekend lull and Donald Trump said there was a \u201cgood chance\u201d of progress in negotiations<\/a> to end the war.
The US and Saudi warplanes carried out strikes on Iran-backed militants in Iraq after accusing them of launching drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities in recent days.
On Tuesday, Iraqi prime minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered security agencies to investigate the alleged attacks by militant groups, saying his country was committed to \u201cpreventing Iraqi territory from being used as a route or launching point for any attack targeting brotherly or friendly countries.\u201d
The Iraqi militias have denied any role in the drone attacks. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, called the Saudi claims \u201cfabrications\u201d and implied that Monday\u2019s attacks were carried out by the Houthis<\/a>, who had themselves claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities.
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their self-styled blockade. Last week, they announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, putting another key Middle Eastern waterway<\/a> \u2013 through the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea \u2013 at risk.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said a tanker reported hearing explosions while travelling in the southern Red Sea. It did not name the tanker but said the crew and vessel were safe.
The Houthis also fired on at least one Saudi tanker<\/a> in the Red Sea last week.
Iran\u2019s surprise attack came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington<\/a>. Israel has been notably absent from the recent fighting with Iran Netanyahu said he had an \u201cexcellent\u201d meeting with Trump at the White House, their first sit-down since launching the war, which offered Netanyahu a chance to smooth out strains in their relationship.
The closed-door meeting lasted nearly an hour and a half and was \u201cpositive and productive,\u201d White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
It comes as both leaders face growing pressures at home. Netanyahu is up for reelection and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating relationship with Trump. Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that has wreaked economic havoc and driven prices higher ahead of midterm elections this November.
With the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse<\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oil price spikes after flare-up of fighting and claimed Iranian attacks on three tankers in strait of HormuzThe US military said it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days.In what Washington cast \u2060as \u201can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":218663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}