Saudi Arabia announced a joint strike with the United States against Iran-allied militias in Iraq, a major change in the kingdom’s stance from its previously restrained posture, which opened the country to a war on three fronts.

The early Wednesday morning strikes came after Iraqi militias launched over 30 drone attacks against the kingdom over the previous three days for the first time during the war. While reports of Saudi airstrikes against Iran had been floated earlier in the war, the strikes marked the first direct, publicized attack by the Saudis against targets outside of Yemen in the current war. The strikes and killing of a significant number of Iran-allied fighters in Iraq signal a shift toward a more aggressive stance by Saudi Arabia, after the kingdom had tried to maintain a de-escalatory posture for months.