The Spillover of the US-Iran Conflict: Smoke Rising in the Middle East

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 30 - On the 29th, the flames of war between the U.S. and Iran reignited, spilling over into multiple areas in the Middle East: U.S. vessels docked at a Mediterranean port in Egypt were attacked; Saudi Arabia publicly launched a military strike in conjunction with the U.S. for the first time, targeting Iraqi militia forces; Iran launched missile attacks against U.S. troops in Jordan... Multiple countries in the region have been drawn into the conflict, and the continuous back-and-forth exchanges of attacks and defenses have raised concerns that the war may spread to a larger area.

On the 29th, Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources confirmed that two vessels caught fire at the Damietta port along Egypt's Mediterranean coast, and emergency teams and relevant technical departments have quickly begun to address the situation, with no casualties reported so far. According to the British maritime security company Ambrey, a U.S. liquefied natural gas storage and regasification vessel and a Greek vessel at the port were attacked by at least one "unidentified" drone. Another source stated that a drone attack on the U.S. vessel caused a fire that spread to the nearby Greek vessel.

Reuters analyzed that the aforementioned attacks indicate a more pronounced trend of the Iranian conflict spilling over than before. The Houthi forces in Yemen imposing a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia is another example of this spillover. The Houthis announced last week that they would implement a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and used missiles and drones to attack two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea that violated their embargo. The Houthis claimed this was a response to Saudi Arabia's "blockade" of the areas controlled by the Houthis.

Currently, Saudi Arabia is forced to reroute its oil exports through the Suez Canal in Egypt, circumventing Africa, due to blockages in the two major oil transport routes, the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, leading to increased transportation time and costs. According to sources, Saudi Arabia is in discussions with dozens of countries and regions to seek the establishment of an international escort alliance in the Red Sea to protect vessels from Saudi Arabia and other countries from Houthi attacks.

Earlier on the 29th, Saudi Arabia and U.S. forces jointly launched attacks on multiple targets within Iraq, citing drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities from the direction of Iraq as the reason. The Iraqi presidential office issued a statement that day condemning this action as a blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty. The Iraqi Shiite militia group "Popular Mobilization Forces" stated that its bases in multiple locations in Iraq were attacked by the U.S. and Saudi forces on the morning of the 29th, resulting in at least 20 deaths and 32 injuries.

Reports indicate that this is the first time Saudi Arabia has publicly conducted joint military strikes with U.S. forces since the outbreak of the Iranian conflict at the end of February. However, Saudi Arabia seems reluctant to engage in prolonged conflict. According to a report from the U.S. Axios news website on the 29th, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met with U.S. Vice President Vance in Washington that day and conveyed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed "wants to send the message that the strikes in Iraq do not signify Saudi Arabia's desire for escalation, but rather indicate that Saudi Arabia is prepared to defend itself if necessary."

Sources say that Saudi Arabia aims to use the joint military action with the U.S. to warn Iran that it will not allow Iran or its proxies to attack critical facilities such as Saudi oil, while also urging for de-escalation and emphasizing that the U.S. and Iran should return to the negotiating table.

On the same day, Iran launched missile attacks against U.S. troops stationed in Jordan. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that this action was intended to respond to the "aggressive actions" of the U.S. military. The U.S. military claimed to have avoided an "ambush" by Iran against U.S. forces in the Middle East, while Jordan stated that it intercepted and shot down missiles coming from Iran.

Subsequently, the U.S. Central Command issued a statement saying that U.S. forces conducted large-scale strikes against dozens of targets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps within Iran at 10 PM Eastern Time on the 29th.

According to Reuters, since the outbreak of the Iranian conflict, U.S. military bases located in Jordan have become primary targets for Iranian strikes. Earlier this month, three U.S. soldiers at that base were killed in an Iranian attack, marking the deadliest incident for U.S. personnel since the end of February. (Wang Yijun)