Persistent Iranian assaults on shipping routes and energy structures in the Persian Gulf have driven oil prices back above $100 per barrel as of Thursday. Meanwhile, American and Israeli military operations continue to target the Islamic Republic, with no resolution to the conflict in sight.
Iran aims to exert enough economic pressure globally to compel the United States and Israel to cease their attacks, a conflict that erupted on February 28. Iran’s president has declared that their retaliatory measures will persist until the country receives assurances against future aggression, suggesting that even a ceasefire or a U.S. claim of victory may not conclude hostilities.
U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to “finish the job,” despite his assertion that Iran is “virtually destroyed.”
In the meantime, Hezbollah, supported by Iran, launched approximately 200 rockets from Lebanon targeting northern Israel. Sirens blared as intercepts of Iranian missiles were heard in various regions. In response, Israel initiated another series of attacks on Tehran and in Lebanon, resulting in 11 fatalities.
The United Nations refugee agency reports that up to 3.2 million individuals have been displaced within Iran due to the ongoing conflict. Most have fled Tehran and other major cities, moving north or to rural locales. Lebanon has also seen at least 759,000 people internally displaced.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian indicated online on Thursday that for peace to be achieved, the global community must acknowledge Iran’s “legitimate rights,” offer reparations, and provide guarantees against future assaults.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested online on Thursday that for the war to end, the world would need to recognize Iran’s “legitimate rights”, pay reparations and offer guarantees against future attacks.
In addition to attacking energy infrastructure around the region, Iran has a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway leading from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.
Amid speculation that the US might target Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s main oil terminal, Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf threatened in a social media post that any attempt to take Iranian islands would “make the Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders”.
With traffic in the strait effectively stopped, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose another 9 per cent to more than $100 a barrel, up some 38 per cent more than what it cost when the war started. Prices have swung back and forth in recent days, at one point surging to around $120 a barrel.
Iran and Hezbollah launch multiple attacks on Israel
It was a sleepless night for many Israelis as Hezbollah launched some 200 rockets at the country’s north and deeper into Israel, according to the Israeli military.
“The noise was extraordinary, it was really scary,” said Naama Porat, a resident of the rural community of Klil, some 15 kilometres from the Lebanese border. As the sound of explosions and interceptions rang out, she dashed with her son to a shelter and spent the night there.
No serious injuries were reported, but the extent of the fire shook residents of the north, who have repeatedly been told by their leaders that Hezbollah was dealt a devastating blow in 2024 during its last war with Israel.
“They have stocks of weapons and it just doesn’t end. We don’t know how much and what to expect,” Porat said.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon that if its government does not prevent Hezbollah from attacking, Israel “will take the territory and do it ourselves”.
More than 20 killed in strikes on Lebanon and Iran
Israel, meantime, hit a car in a seaside area of Lebanon’s capital where dozens of displaced people have been sheltering, killing eight and wounding 31, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said it was “not aware” of a strike at that location.
The Israeli military said it struck a nuclear facility in Iran in recent days. Israel had destroyed the “Taleghan 2” site in an airstrike in October 2024. Earlier this year satellite photos raised concerns that Iran was working to restore the facility.
The US and Israel say that destroying whatever remains of Iran’s nuclear program is one of the central aims of the war. They have long suspected Iran seeks nuclear weapons, while the Islamic Republic says its nuclear program is peaceful.
In Tehran, security force checkpoints came under attack for the first time on Wednesday night, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported. At least 10 people were killed in the suspected drone assaults.
Israel and the US military did not immediately respond to requests for comment over whether they were behind the attacks.
Iran fires at Gulf Arab countries and hits ship in Persian Gulf
Iran’s latest attacks on its Gulf neighbors flouted a UN Security Council resolution approved on Wednesday.
Early on Thursday, a container ship was hit with a projectile off the coast of Dubai, sparking a small fire, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre. It said the crew were safe.
An Iranian attack sparked a major fire on Muharraq Island, home to Bahrain’s international airport. Kuwait authorities said an Iranian drone smashed into a residential building, wounding two people, and that a drone attack on Kuwait International Airport had caused damage but no casualties.
The UAE said it had activated air defenses twice to protect the futuristic city of Dubai from attacks, and firefighters extinguished a blaze at a tower after a drone hit.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said it shot down a drone targeting the diplomatic quarter in its capital, Riyadh, and other drones in the east, including at least one trying to target its Shaybah oil field.
Following an attack on Iraq’s Basra port on Wednesday that killed at least one person, officials said on Thursday that operations were halted at all the country’s oil terminals.
In the UAE, Citibank said it would close all but one of its branches due to an Iranian threat â not yet realised â to target financial institutions in the region.
