American and Saudi aircraft struck Iraq overnight on 28 July 2026, hitting facilities the Popular Mobilization Forces says it holds in seven provinces. Two days later the Iraqi government said it had not been asked, had not been told, and had seen no evidence for the accusation the strikes were meant to answer.

The latest. US Central Command said it and Saudi forces conducted precision strikes on 28 July against what it called Iran-aligned terrorists directed by the Revolutionary Guard to attack American forces and Saudi energy infrastructure, citing more than 30 drone attacks in the previous 72 hours. The Popular Mobilization Forces said at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded. Iraq's National Security Council called the strikes a flagrant violation of the country's sovereignty. Donald Trump said they were carried out in coordination with Iraq's government, which Baghdad denies. Kataib Hezbollah has given the government until 6 August to show it can defend the country.

What Washington and Riyadh say

CENTCOM's statement is specific about the provocation and vague about the targets.

It says Iran-aligned groups carried out more than 30 drone attacks directed by the Revolutionary Guard over the preceding three days, and that the strikes hit those responsible. It also says attempted attacks on US forces were not successful.

Saudi Arabia framed its part as self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter, said it would not hesitate to take any measure needed to protect the kingdom's sovereignty, and accused the groups of an irresponsible and escalatory approach. Riyadh had said earlier in the week that drones aimed at its Eastern Province oil facilities were launched from Iraqi territory, and had called on Baghdad to stop its land being used as a launching point.

What Baghdad says

Iraq's answer came in two parts, and both are denials.

The National Security Council called the strikes on Popular Mobilization Forces bases a flagrant violation of Iraq's sovereignty and the sanctity of its lands. The presidency said targeting official security institutions is incompatible with international law and the UN Charter.

Then the government addressed Trump directly. It had neither granted approval for strikes on specific sites or groups inside Iraq nor had any prior knowledge of the attacks, a government spokesman said on 30 July, and investigative committees had found no evidence to substantiate the Saudi claims. The prime minister's spokesman put it plainly: no evidence has been presented to prove that attacks on Saudi territory were launched from Iraqi soil.

So the strikes were justified by an accusation that the country they were carried out in says remains unproven, and were described by the American president as coordinated with a government that says it knew nothing about them.

The dead, and the disagreement about how many

Two Iraqi bodies have given tolls, and they do not match.

The Popular Mobilization Forces said on 29 July that at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded, in strikes on its facilities in Baghdad, Wasit, Nineveh, Basra, Kirkuk, Karbala and Diyala.

A day later the Iraqi government spokesman said more than 18 had been killed and 20 wounded. That is a revision downward, and the wounded count falls by 12.

Iranian state media reported that four members of the Revolutionary Guard were killed and named them. No American, Saudi or Iraqi official has confirmed that, and it rests on Iranian reporting alone.

What to call the people who were hit

The naming is part of the dispute.

CENTCOM calls them Iran-aligned terrorists and the Revolutionary Guard's proxies. Saudi Arabia calls them Iran-backed groups. Al Jazeera describes the Popular Mobilization Forces as an Iraqi paramilitary group. Iraq's own presidency calls the same organization an official security institution of the state.

Those are four descriptions of one target set, and the gap between the first and the last is the whole argument about whether these strikes hit a militia or an arm of the Iraqi state.

The clock somebody else has started

Kataib Hezbollah, one of the armed groups in question, has given Iraq's government until 6 August to demonstrate that it can defend the country's sovereignty, and said a response to the strikes is inevitable.

Iran's foreign ministry condemned the strikes as a violation of the UN Charter, said they hit Iraqi state facilities along with Arbaeen pilgrimage sites and service stations, and offered condolences for Iraqi civilians killed.

Ankara has still said nothing

Türkiye has not commented on the strikes, on the sovereignty complaint, or on the accusation that drones crossed Iraqi territory. That silence has held since Riyadh made the accusation on 27 July.

The Defense Ministry did speak about Iraq on 30 July, answering a question about Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's visit to Ankara. Cooperation with Iraq on security continues without interruption, it said, joint mechanisms are working, and border security and counterterrorism coordination are being maintained. It added that stronger Türkiye-Iraq ties matter for the security of Iraq's Turkmens. It did not mention the strikes.

Ankara bought into Iraqi oil the same week all this began. Turkish Petroleum took a 15% stake in BP's Kirkuk company on 28 July, the day the aircraft flew, and Kirkuk is one of the seven provinces where the Popular Mobilization Forces says its facilities were hit.