Egypt is dragged into Middle East war as drone hits US gas tanker at Mediterranean port - a day after Saudi Arabia joined American strikes in Iraq

Egypt has been dragged into the Middle East war after drones hit a US-owned gas storage tanker at a Mediterranean port, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday.A statement from Egypt's petroleum ministry confirmed a fire at the port of Damietta, but made no mention of a drone ​attack and did not provide a cause for the incident.Port services firm Inchcape said in a separate message two ​gas tankers had caught fire at Damietta.The drone hit floating storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a ⁠fire that spread to another vessel, Gaslog Salem, three trading sources familiar with the incident said. Two separate security sources ​said the likely cause of the blast was assessed as a drone strike.The Energos Winter was reportedly struck by an ​unidentified projectile on its starboard side, causing a fire that was extinguished.It was unclear who was responsible for the incident, which occurred shortly after Iran carried out a missile attack against US forces in Jordan, and Washington and Saudi Arabia ​struck Iran-backed paramilitary groups in Iraq.The latest strikes in Iraq and Egypt threatened to draw more Middle Eastern countries into ​the conflict, after the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen last week declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. Egypt has been dragged into the Middle East war after drones hit a US-owned gas storage tanker at a Mediterranean port, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday Water jets are fired at a gas tanker after a drone strike, maritime security firm Ambrey said, at Damietta port, Egypt, July 29US strikes in Iran on Wednesday followed President Donald Trump's vow earlier ⁠in the day to retaliate against Iran for firing on US troops.'So it's our turn,' Trump told reporters at the White House, promising to 'hit them very hard' even as he again said Washington would continue to aim for a ​peace deal with Tehran.The war began in February, when the US and Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that Trump said would last only a few weeks. A temporary ceasefire agreement in June collapsed amid renewed fighting over the strait, which Iran says it now controls. The joint US-Saudi attacks marked the first time Riyadh has publicly joined strikes alongside Washington.Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces, powerful Iran-backed paramilitary groups incorporated into the Iraqi security forces, said at least 20 members were killed and ​32 wounded in US-Saudi strikes targeting several bases across Iraq.Iraqi men shouted 'Death to America!' as they carried the bodies of slain fighters in body bags. Washington and Riyadh said they struck Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets ‌launched from Iraq. After ⁠the joint attacks, Saudi Arabia's defence minister met with Vice President JD Vance in Washington on Wednesday to urge the Trump administration not to escalate the conflict further by attacking Yemen's Houthis and carrying out additional strikes against the Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, two sources told Reuters.One of the sources added that such escalation would open the door to 'major unknown risks'.The White House and Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.US officials have privately cautioned that resuming major combat operations against Iran would carry risk given the negative impact on stocks of munitions.The Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, estimated this week that the US military has fewer than 1,000 ​Patriot interceptor missiles and fewer than 250 THAAD interceptors - two ​key air defence systems.Though Iran denies its forces have ⁠directed strikes from Iraqi territory, Iranian newspaper Hamshahri reported that four Iranian Revolutionary Guards advisers had been killed in the strikes on Iraq. A woman walks past a large billboard pledging revenge against US President Donald Trump along Jomhouri Street in central Tehran on July 27Tehran considered attacking a seaport in Ukraine in revenge for strikes on an Iranian ship heading for Russia, a report claimed.The incident is the latest example of how the two wars are beginning to merge in a sign of increasing global instability.It came after Ukraine, which has accused Iran and Russia of supporting each other’s military operations, struck an Iranian commercial cargo ship in the Caspian Sea on Saturday, killing a civilian sailor.The Islamic Republic vowed to retaliate. Some people briefed on intelligence said that they expected Tehran to fire a ballistic missile with a small warhead at Ukraine, to make a symbolic gesture but cause relatively little damage, according to The New York Times.Other officials said the target was likely one of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Any missile fired from Iran into Ukraine would be a dramatic escalation and risk triggering a wider conflict, given the tensions between the two nations over Tehran's alliance with the Kremlin.Islamic Republic officials said they hoped the conflict would end with their retaliatory attack, but Western officials warned that it was hard to predict how Ukraine would respond. On Sunday, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, called Kyiv's attack a violation of the UN charter aimed at dragging Europe into Tehran's war with Washington. In a social media post, he said the incident 'CANNOT GO UNANSWERED'.A US blockade of Iranian Persian Gulf ports has made Tehran's trade with Moscow across the Caspian Sea more vital. The Caspian Sea has emerged as an important supply route for both overt and covert trade.But on Tuesday, after Ukrainian diplomats intervened to ease tensions, Mr. Araghchi spoke by phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha.Following the exchange, Mr. Araghchi wrote in a post that Mr. Sybiha had described the attack on the cargo ship as unintentional. 'Iran does not seek escalation either, but made clear any attack on our citizens or interests is unacceptable,' Mr. Araghchi wrote. 'There must be restitution for losses.'The Iranian foreign minister announced on his official webpage that he also spoke to Kaja Kallas, the top European Union diplomat, discussing 'ways to help decrease tensions in the region'.The Ukrainian attack came after Zelensky said on Saturday he would share evidence with the US showing Russia is assisting Iran in targeting US bases in the Middle East through satellite surveillance.Taking to X, the Ukrainian leader wrote: 'Since the beginning of July, we have recorded active Russian satellite surveillance of the Gulf states and US military facilities located there.'These images subsequently appear in Iran. At the same time, there is a clear correlation between Russia's satellite imagery of these sites and Iranian strikes - both before the attacks, in preparation for them, and afterward, to assess the damage inflicted.'The new developments follow months of speculation that the two conflicts are intertwining.Iran has claimed it is not involved in Russia's war on Ukraine, although Kyiv has said Tehran is supplying drones to the Kremlin.The Islamic Republic also called on European countries to hold Ukraine accountable.The strike fuelled speculation in Tehran that it was intended as a warning that Iran's Caspian coastline is vulnerable and could be used as leverage in future negotiations with the US, according to the Financial Times.Although the Caspian Sea lies more than 600 miles from the front line in Russia's war with Ukraine, Kyiv has steadily expanded its long-range drone capabilities, allowing it to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. After inflicting heavy damage on Russia's oil infrastructure and contributing to fuel shortages, that capability is increasingly being viewed as a potential factor in the wider confrontation involving Iran.Hamidreza Azizi, an Iran expert at the SWP Berlin think-tank, outlined several possible explanations for Ukraine's strike on the Iranian-linked vessel. Writing on X, he said one possibility is that Kyiv wanted to reinforce its value as a strategic partner to Washington, which continues to supply crucial military support, including Patriot air defence systems. According to Azizi, such an operation would not have been possible without approval from the US and its Western allies.Another interpretation is that the US and Israel encouraged Ukraine to increase pressure on Tehran because they feared direct attacks on Iranian infrastructure could provoke retaliation against key economic assets across the region. A third possibility, wrote Azizi, is that the strike was linked to threats made by Yemen's Houthi rebels against shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a route that Saudi Arabia has relied on to export oil while avoiding the Strait of Hormuz.