WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said it knocked down an Iranian ballistic missile attack against American forces in the Middle East on Tuesday, shattering a brief pause in the fighting as mediators tried to get both sides back to negotiations.
All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted, the U.S. Central Command said, adding that U.S. forces “remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness.”
The United States and Iran had experienced a period of calm, during which neither announced attacks for days following weeks of escalation over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway and narrow chokepoint through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows.
There was no immediate comment from Tehran on the U.S. military statement or the strikes.
The resumption of fighting comes at the end of a month packed with multiple pressure points on U.S. President Donald Trump over the war. In recent weeks, four U.S. troops died during the fighting, while the Pentagon asked an increasingly skeptical Congress for money to cover the conflict’s ballooning costs.
High gas prices from the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz is contributing to fears that Republicans are vulnerable in November’s midterm elections. The House narrowly passed a resolution to halt U.S. military action in Iran last week sending another warning Trump that reflects the war’s unpopularity with many Americans.
Trump has repeatedly retreated from threats to knock out bridges, power plants and other infrastructure but he told Fox News Channel in an interview earlier Tuesday that Iran knows he’ll “finish the job” if its leaders don’t make a deal to end the war.
Iran had effectively closed the strait when the war began by firing at freighters and tankers off its coast or threatening them. Following the signing of an interim ceasefire deal in June, a battle for control over the strait erupted.
Iran demanded that ships use a route near its coastline and said it can potentially charge fees. Ships were increasingly navigating a southern route along the coast of Oman under a U.S. overwatch operation when Iran attacked some vessels.
Saudi Arabia said earlier on Tuesday that it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq for a second day, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their self-styled blockade of the kingdom.
The kingdom's Defense Ministry said in a statement that air defenses intercepted and destroyed several drones that had attempted to target petroleum facilities in the nation's eastern region. It said the attacks were “once again launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iran-affiliated terrorist militias.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered security agencies to investigate after the Saudis alleged a similar attack on Monday. The Iraqi military said in a statement that Iraq is committed to “preventing Iraqi territory from being used as a route or launching point for any attack targeting brotherly or friendly countries.”
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 “fabrications" and implied that Monday's attacks were carried out by the Houthis, who had themselves claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities.
Meanwhile, the Houthis claim to have fired missiles at the Saudi oil tanker NCC Ghazal, forcing it to turn back. Last week, they announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, putting another key Middle Eastern waterway — through the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea — at risk.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said a tanker reported hearing explosions while traveling in the southern Red Sea. It did not name the tanker but said the crew and vessel were safe.
The rebels fired on at least one Saudi tanker in the Red Sea last week.
Iran and the U.S. paused their fighting over the weekend, though tensions remain high even as officials said mediators achieved progress in getting the two sides back to negotiations.
Iran said earlier Tuesday that U.S. strikes during an earlier period of escalation destroyed an airport and a marine control tower, and caused damage to 12 bridges and two tunnels, among other infrastructure.
Iran’s surprise strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington and Trump. The U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28 but Israel has been notably absent from the recent fighting with the Islamic Republic.
Netanyahu said he had an “excellent” meeting with Trump at the White House, their first sitdown 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 “positive and productive,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. The White House did not immediately offer more details.
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.
The U.S. ability to intercept Iran’s incoming strikes has become an increasingly salient issue as lawmakers, members of the military and experts raise concerns over the nation’s diminishing stockpiles of missile interceptors.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, pushed back on those concerns, saying in a statement that the U.S. military has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing."
The Pentagon also said that a new, separate category was created in its official casualty tally for those killed and wounded in the U.S.-Iran fighting because of the “Operation Epic Fury" — the military’s official name for combat operations in Iran — had concluded earlier.
The Defense Casualty Analysis System has removed the four soldiers killed and dozens of troops wounded in the latest exchange of fire from its Iran war tally and placed them in a new category called “Overseas Operations.”
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Associated Press journalists Konstantin Toropin and Darlene Superville in Washington and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
