Iraq’s Joint Operations Command announced on early Monday the start of a military operation to “dry up the sources of terrorism” in the desert areas between the provinces of Anbar and Najaf along the Saudi Arabian border.

President Trump said Monday that Iran appeared to have been responsible for the weekend attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. But he also said he would “like to avoid” a military conflict with Tehran, emphasized his interest in diplomacy and played down the attack’s jolt to the global oil market.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Sunday described the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as “separatist terrorist” forces and asserted Damascus is determined “to reclaim every inch of Syrian territory.”