Global oil prices jumped more than $3 a barrel on Wednesday following a sudden escalation in Middle East military strikes that shattered a brief lull in hostilities. 

Joint U.S. and Saudi forces launched retaliatory strikes against multiple sites in eastern Iraq, targeting Iran-backed militias in response to drone attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. 

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces confirmed several headquarters were hit, resulting in multiple casualties and structural damage.

The joint campaign capped a rapid series of military confrontations across the region. 

Hours prior to the strikes, U.S. Central Command reported that air defenses thwarted a surprise Iranian attack on U.S. troops. 

In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated it fired several ballistic missiles at U.S. military installations in Jordan, where Jordanian forces reported intercepting and shooting down five incoming missiles.

This sudden rise in violence effectively ended a brief pause in fighting that had taken hold after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly halted a two-week bombing campaign. 

Meanwhile, Tehran firmly denied responsibility for the initial drone strikes in Saudi Arabia, with an unnamed Iranian defense official warning on state TV that attributing regional attacks to Iran remains a major miscalculation.

Alma Angeles/NET25 News / with a report from Reuters