Drones attack Iran's neighbours as Tehran appears to test Trump's latest pause

Highlights: 

• Saudi Arabia says it has shot down drones launched by Iran-backed armed group from Iraq
• Drones also reported in Jordan and northern Iraq
• U.S. official says military commanders advised Trump they were running out of targets
• Two-week bombing campaign killed scores in Iran; four US service members died
• Iran state media: six ships turned back in strait trying to pass without Tehran's permission

Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reported drone attacks today (27 July), two days after the United States abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran, as Tehran appeared to put ‌President Donald Trump's latest strategic U-turn to the test.

Saudi Arabia said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, some in its eastern province and others in the capital Riyadh. It said the drones had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed militia, and it reserved the right to respond.

Separately, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen said they had targeted transit sites carrying oil to Saudi Arabia's main Red Sea oil port of Yanbu, in retaliation for what it said were Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni air space.

Earlier, Jordan reported shooting down two drones, and Iraqi ​security sources reported a series of drone attacks on camps housing Iranian opposition Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. Officials did not identify the sources of those drones.

Jordan and northern Iraq were the locations where four US service ​members were killed during the two-week air campaign, which Trump suspended abruptly over the weekend after his top brass advised him that the strategy had run its course.

Iran has said ⁠it will pause its own attacks for as long as Trump's self-imposed ceasefire continues. But it also said it was still in control of the contested Strait of Hormuz, and was not seeking to resume peace talks with the United States.

Oil ​prices tumble after trump pauses air strikes

In his latest strategic reversal over the weekend, which came with no prior announcement, Trump halted a campaign of 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing that had provoked Tehran to fire on US bases in response.

The ​end of the US campaign sent oil prices tumbling. Brent crude, which had briefly ticked above $100 a barrel last week for the first time since May, fell around 6.5% on Monday to just over $90, having touched levels as low as $87.55.

Trump's decision to suspend the campaign reflected advice from his military that the bombing had reached the limits of what it could achieve, according to a US official and several US media reports.

The US official told Reuters that military commanders had advised the president they were running out of targets. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs ​of Staff, General Dan Caine, had expressed concern over the depletion of air defence munitions, the official said.

Request for more talks 'not in our dna', iran spokesman says

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday Trump had ​paused the campaign to allow room for negotiations. Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other H officials have described Iran as "begging for a deal".

But the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said in a televised press conference on Monday that Iran had not ‌asked to resume ⁠peace talks with the United States.

Messages were still being passed between the sides through mediators and Iran had not forsaken diplomacy, but "reports about Iran requesting negotiations with the US are fabricated," Baghaei said. "This is not in our DNA."

Tehran also indicated it was still in control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran state media state say six ships turned back in strait

Several Iranian state media outlets cited an "informed source" as saying that Iran had turned around six "offending ships" on Monday morning that had attempted to cross the strait without its permission. One of the vessels, the source said, had had "an accident".

"As previously announced, the traffic route in the Strait of Hormuz is the route specified by Iran, and other routes are contaminated and have no way out," the ​Iranian state media reports quoted the source as saying.

Trump launched ​his renewed bombing campaign to punish Iran after Tehran ⁠fired on ships using a route through the strait that has been promoted by the United States, which has told vessels to sail close to the coast of Oman.

Iran says ships may pass only through a channel that runs closer to its own coast, which it controls and where it intends to impose transit fees.

The two weeks of renewed US bombing ​killed scores of people in Iran and destroyed bridges and tunnels across the south as well as military targets. Four US service members were killed by Iran's return fire ​against US bases in neighbouring Arab ⁠states. Iran also struck civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries in what it said was retaliation for US strikes on civilian targets.

Last week Iran's Houthi allies threatened to extend the disruption to global oil supplies to a second major waterway by announcing a blockade of Saudi Arabia's oil industry in the Red Sea, sending oil prices even higher.

The halt to the renewed US bombing campaign leaves no clear indication of what leverage Washington can exert to achieve Trump's aim to break Iran's grip on the strait.

Washington and Tehran reached ⁠an agreement in ​June on a framework for talks meant to take place by the end of August to resolve major issues such as Iran's nuclear programme.

But ​the sides have disputed the meaning of the memorandum's language about the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington insisting it requires Tehran to allow free travel while Iran says it grants it the authority to supervise transit.

Iran aims to formalise its control over the strait in an agreement with Oman, which controls ​the opposite shore. A senior Omani delegation was in Tehran over the weekend discussing the strait and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei said those talks went well.