F-15SA fighter jets in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 25, 2017. The Saudi strikes on Iraq were carried out by Saudi ‌air force fighter ‌jets on Iran-linked militia targets near the kingdom's northern border with Iraq, one Western official says. | REUTERS

RIYADH/BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON – Saudi fighter jets bombed targets linked to powerful Tehran-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq during the Iran war, while retaliatory strikes were also launched from Kuwait into Iraq, multiple sources familiar with the matter said.

The strikes are part of a broader pattern of military responses around the Persian Gulf that remained largely hidden during a conflict that began with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and has spread to the wider Middle East.…