Drones attack Iran's neighbours as Tehran appears to test Trump's latest pause

Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reported drone attacks on Monday, two days after the United States abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran, as Tehran appeared to put President Donald Trump's latest strategic U-turn to the test.

Saudi Arabia said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, some in its eastern province and others in the capital Riyadh. It said the drones had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed militia, and it reserved the right to respond.

Separately, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen said they had targeted transit sites carrying oil to Saudi Arabia's main Red Sea oil port of Yanbu, in retaliation for what it said were Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni air space.

Earlier, Jordan reported shooting down two drones, and Iraqi security sources reported a series of drone attacks on camps housing Iranian opposition Kurdish forces in northern Iraq.

Jordan and northern Iraq were the locations where four U.S. service members were killed during the two-week air campaign.

Iran has said it will pause its own attacks for as long as Trump's self-imposed ceasefire continues. But it also said it was still in control of the contested Strait of Hormuz, and was not seeking to resume peace talks with the United States.

Brent crude, which had briefly ticked above $100 a barrel last week for the first time since May, fell around 6.5% on Monday to just over $90, having touched levels as low as $87.55.

Trump's decision to suspend the campaign reflected advice from his military that the bombing had reached the limits of what it could achieve, according to a U.S. official.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday Trump had paused the campaign to allow room for negotiations. Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials have described Iran as 'begging for a deal'.

But the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said in a televised press conference on Monday that Iran had not asked to resume peace talks with the United States.

Messages were still being passed between the sides through mediators and Iran had not forsaken diplomacy, but 'reports about Iran requesting negotiations with the U.S. are fabricated,' Baghaei said. 'This is not in our DNA.'

Several Iranian state media outlets cited an 'informed source' as saying that Iran had turned around six 'offending ships' on Monday morning that had attempted to cross the strait without its permission. 'As previously announced, the traffic route in the Strait of Hormuz is the route specified by Iran, and other routes are contaminated and have no way out.'