Iran fired on two commercial ships in the Gulf on Wednesday, setting at least one vessel on fire, as it pressed its campaign against its energy-exporting neighbours and forced world governments to dip into their strategic oil reserves.
Oil prices surged higher by more than five per cent in early trading and markets have seen-sawed since the end of last month, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killed its supreme leader and plunged the Middle East into war.
As the conflict entered its 12th day, Iran vowed to target ‘economic centres and banks’ that it deems linked to US and Israeli interests, and all eyes were on the Strait of Hormuz, the vital sea lane connecting Gulf oil and gas export terminals to the world economy.
Iran’s army said it had attacked key targets in Israel, including the military intelligence headquarters, a naval base in Haifa and a radar system.
It also said it targeted US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had struck the Liberian-flagged container ship Express Rome and the Thai bulk carrier Mayuree Naree because they had entered the Strait of Hormuz ‘after ignoring the warnings of the IRGC naval forces’.
Thailand’s navy said the Mayuree Naree was attacked while transiting the strait. Oman’s navy rescued 20 crew members, but efforts were underway to find three more. Pictures shared by the Thai navy showed black smoke pouring out of the vessel.
IRGC naval commander Alireza Tangsiri said in a social media post that ‘any vessel intending to pass must get permission from Iran’.
Separately, the Iranian military’s operational command declared on state television that any vessel that belongs to the United States, Israel or their allies would be considered a legitimate target and repeated a warning that it would ‘not allow a single litre of oil to transit’ the strait.
Drones fell near Dubai airport, injuring four people. ‘Two drones fell in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport a short while ago, resulting in minor injuries to two Ghanaian nationals and one Bangladeshi national, and moderate injuries to one Indian national,’ the Dubai Media Office said.
‘Air traffic is operating as normal,’ it added.
Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a wave of seven drones heading towards a strategic oil field. ‘Two drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field were intercepted and destroyed,’ the defence ministry said in a post on X.
It said another five drones were intercepted and destroyed in separate posts.
The kingdom also said it intercepted seven ballistic missiles in separate attacks targeting the country’s eastern region and the Prince Sultan Air Base, where an American soldier was hit on March 1 and died a week later.
Israel pressed its attacks across Lebanon on Wednesday, hitting an apartment building in central Beirut, in the second targeting of the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began.
Israel, which kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire, has since launched air raids across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas — an offensive that has left 570 people dead according to the health ministry.
Lebanese authorities said that 7,80,000 people had been registered as displaced, with more than 1,20,000 staying in government shelters.
The Israeli-US attacks came weeks after Iranian authorities ruthlessly crushed mass protests, although the United States and Israel say they are not necessarily seeking to topple the Islamic republic.
Iranian authorities warned against dissent at home, with the country’s police chief saying protesters would be viewed and dealt with as ‘enemies’.
‘All our forces are also ready, with their hands on the trigger, prepared to defend their revolution,’ national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said, in comments aired by IRIB.
In Iran, ordinary people were doing the best they could to adapt to living under frequent US-Israeli strikes.
‘We’ve put our faith in God. For now, there’s food in the shops. Every day I go to buy greens and bread, that’s all,’ Tehran resident Mahvash, 70, said journalists in Paris.
‘People are calm,’ said another resident. ‘They are getting used to living despite everything and adapting — as best they can — to this situation.’
The United States and Israel launched the war on February 28 with an attack that killed Iran’s veteran leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His son Mojtaba Khamenei has been named his successor, though he has yet to appear in public, amid reports that he has been wounded.
‘I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,’ said Yousef Pezeshkian, son of Iran’s president, in a post.
Iran’s health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people had been killed in US and Israeli strikes, and more than 10,000 civilians injured. AFP was not in a position to independently verify the figures.
The war raging in much of the Middle East must be stopped before it engulfs the entire region at increasing cost to the global economy, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.
‘This war must be stopped before it becomes bigger and completely engulfs the region in flames,’ he said, describing the Middle East as ‘once again enveloped in a smell of blood and gunpowder’.
‘If diplomacy is given a chance, this is entirely possible,’ he insisted, a day after Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi effectively ruled out negotiations with Washington, saying Tehran had had ‘a very bitter experience of talking with Americans’.
A drone strike in Iraq’s Kurdistan region killed a member of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group on Wednesday, his exiled party said, with a senior official from the group blaming the attack on Iran.
The Komala party is one of several Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish groups that have long opposed the Islamic republic.
At least eight drones targeted the party’s positions, killing one fighter, the party said.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said US forces had carried out strikes that destroyed 16 mine-laying vessels that could have been used to block the strait, but Iranian attacks with drones or missiles continued on Wednesday with at least three ships hit.
‘If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before,’ US president Donald Trump posted on social media.
The leaders of the G7 powers held a video meeting to discuss opening their strategic petroleum reserves to counter rising prices, in coordination with the International Energy Agency.
Germany’s energy minister Katherina Reiche said the IEA had asked member states to release 400 million barrels and that Germany would comply. Japan is ready to take the lead and to release oil reserves by Monday, without waiting for an IEA decision, prime minister Sanae Takaichi said.
As Iran presses its quest to inflict maximum pain on the global economy, its missiles, drone strikes and threats have all but shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of global crude and LNG passes.
Analysts say a prolonged closure of the strait, which also carries a third of the fertiliser for world food production, would have a devastating effect on the global economy, particularly in Asia and Europe.
