Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s continued attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf have led to a decline in oil prices Above $100 per barrel on Thursday, as US and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic Republic with no sign of end War vision.
Iran is trying that Inflict enough global economic pain To pressure the United States and Israel to stop their bombing that started the war on February 28. The Iranian president said his attacks will continue until Iran receives security guarantees against another attack, suggesting that even a ceasefire or US declaration of victory may not stop the conflict.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump promised to “complete the mission,” despite his claim that Iran was “virtually destroyed.”
Meanwhile, Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters fired about 200 missiles from Lebanon at northern Israel, while sirens sounded and the sound of an Iranian missile explosion could be heard in other areas. Israel launched another wave of attacks on Tehran and Lebanon, where 11 people were killed.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced due to the ongoing war. She added that most of them fled from Tehran and other major cities towards the north of the country or rural areas. It says at least 759,000 people were Internally displaced people in Lebanon.
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 provide guarantees against future attacks.
In addition to attacking energy infrastructure across the region, Iran has a stranglehold on the region Strait of HormuzThe waterway leading from the Persian Gulf towards the Indian Ocean through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.
Amid speculation that the United States might target Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s main oil terminal, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf threatened in a social media post that any attempt to seize the Iranian islands “will make the Persian Gulf drip with the blood of invaders.”
With traffic in the strait virtually halted, the price of Brent crude fell. International standardOil prices rose another 9% to more than $100 a barrel, about 38% more than they cost when the war began. Prices have swung back and forth in recent days, at one point rising to around $120 a barrel.
It was a sleepless night for many Israelis, as Hezbollah fired about 200 rockets into the north of the country and deeper into Israel, according to the Israeli military.
“The noise was unusual, it was really scary,” said Naama Porat, a resident of the rural Kalil area, about 15 kilometers from the Lebanese border. Hearing the sounds of explosions and objections, she rushed with her son to a shelter and spent the night there.
There were no reports of serious injuries, but the size of the fire shook residents of the north, whose leaders have repeatedly told them that Hezbollah had dealt a devastating blow in 2024 during its latest war with Israel.
“They have a stockpile of weapons, and it is endless,” Porat said. “We don’t know how much and what to expect.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon that if his government did not prevent Hezbollah from attacking, Israel “will seize the territory and do it themselves.”
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said that Israel rammed a car in a coastal area of the Lebanese capital where dozens of displaced people were taking shelter, killing eight and wounding 31 others. The Israeli army said it was “not aware” of a raid at that location.
The Israeli army said it struck a nuclear facility in Iran in recent days. Israel destroyed the Talghan 2 site in an air strike in October 2024. Earlier this year, satellite images raised fears that Iran was working to restore the facility.
The United States and Israel say the rest of it will be destroyed Iranian nuclear program It is one of the central goals of war. They have long suspected Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, while the Islamic Republic says its nuclear program is peaceful.
The semi-official Fars News Agency reported that security forces checkpoints were attacked for the first time in Tehran on Wednesday evening. At least 10 people were killed in suspected drone attacks.
Israel and the US military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether they were behind the attacks.
It has mocked the recent Iranian attacks on its Gulf neighbors United Nations Security Council resolution It was approved on Wednesday.
Early Thursday, a container ship was hit by a shell off the coast of Dubai, causing a small fire, according to the British Army’s UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre. She added that the crew was safe.
An Iranian attack sparked a major fire on Muharraq Island, home to Bahrain International Airport. Kuwaiti authorities said that an Iranian drone crashed into a residential building, injuring two people, and that a drone attack on Kuwait International Airport caused damage but no casualties.
The UAE said it activated air defenses twice to protect the future city of Dubai from attacks, and firefighters also put out a fire in a tower after it was struck by a drone.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it shot down a drone that targeted the diplomatic quarter in its capital, Riyadh, and other drones in the east, including at least one that was trying to target the Shaybah oil field.
After an attack on the Iraqi port of Basra on Wednesday that killed at least one person, officials said Thursday that operations had been halted at all of the country’s oil terminals.
In the United Arab Emirates, Citibank said it would close all of its branches except one due to an Iranian threat – which has not yet materialized – to target financial institutions in the region.
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Meltzer reported from Mitzpe Hela, Israel, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Sally Abu Al-Joud in Beirut contributed to this report.