DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's unrelenting attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf pushed oil back above $100 a barrel on Thursday, as American and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic Republic with no sign of an end to the war in sight.
Iran is trying to inflict enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to halt their bombardment, which started the war on Feb. 28. Iran's president said its attacks would continue until Iran gets security guarantees against another assault, indicating that even a ceasefire or U.S. declaration of victory might not halt the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking at a Wednesday event in Kentucky, promised to “finish the job,” even though he claimed Iran is “virtually destroyed.”
Iran hit a container ship off the coast of Dubai, caused a blaze near Bahrain's international airport, targeted a major Saudi oil field with a drone and forced Iraq to halt operations at all of its oil terminals after attacking its port of Basra on the Persian Gulf.
With the latest attacks, Iran flouted a U.N. Security Council resolution from the previous day demanding that it halt strikes on its Gulf neighbors, with new attacks also reported in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Sirens wailed after midnight in Jerusalem as Israel intercepted incoming Iranian missiles, and loud booms were heard later in the day in another attack on the city, while Iran-backed Hezbollah militants launched some 200 rockets from Lebanon at the country's north.
Israel responded with what the military described as a “wide-scale wave of strikes” on Tehran and in Lebanon, where 11 people were killed in two early morning strikes.
The U.N. refugee agency meanwhile sais up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced by the ongoing war. It said most have fled from Tehran and other major cities toward the north of the country or rural areas.
Iranian officials dismiss any notion of backing down
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei hasn't yet made a statement or been seen since being chosen to succeed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening day of the conflict.
But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested online 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 U.S. might target Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s main oil terminal, Iran's parliamentary speaker threatened that any attempt to take Iranian islands would “make the Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders.”
“The blood of American soldiers is Trump’s personal responsibility,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf added in a social media post.
With traffic in the strait effectively stopped, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose another 9% to more than $100 a barrel, up some 38% over 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, with sirens blaring almost nonstop for hours.
“The noise was extraordinary, it was really scary,” said Naama Porat, a resident of the rural community of Klil, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Lebanese border. She said the sound of explosions and interceptions overhead was so loud that she dashed with her son to a shelter outside before the first sirens and spent the night there.
Many of the rockets were intercepted and 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 its last war with Israel before a ceasefire was reached in late 2024.
“They have stocks of weapons and it just doesn’t end. We don’t know how much and what to expect,” Porat said.
Missile launches from Iran and Hezbollah also sent Israelis to shelters in multiple other areas, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon that if its government does not prevent Hezbollah from attacking, Israel “will take the territory and do it ourselves.” He said the military had been instructed to prepare for “an expansion” in its operations in Lebanon, without elaborating.
More than 20 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Iran
Israel, meantime, hit a car in Ramlet al-Bayda, a major seaside tourist area of Beirut 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.
In Aramoun, a town about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Beirut, another three people were killed and a child was wounded in another early Israeli attack.
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 U.S. military’s Central Command 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
As the day began Thursday, a container ship in the Persian Gulf was hit with a projectile off the coast of Dubai, sparking a small fire, according to British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center. It said the crew of the vessel were safe.
In Bahrain, an Iranian attack sparked a major fire on Muharraq Island, home to the country's international airport. Sirens sounded again later in the morning with more incoming Iranian fire.
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 Dubai from attacks, and firefighters extinguished a blaze at a tower in Dubai Creek Harbor after a drone hit.
Saudi Arabia said it shot down a drone targeting the diplomatic quarter of the capital, Riyadh, and other drones in the kingdom’s east, including at least one trying to target its Shaybah oil field.
Following an attack on Iraq's Basra port Wednesday that killed at least one person, officials said Thursday that operations were halted at all the country's oil terminals.
Farhan al-Fartousi, the director-general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, said the attack targeted a vessel in a ship-to-ship transfer area of the Persian Gulf port.
In the UAE, Citibank said it would close all its branches except one due to a threat by Iran — not yet realized — to target financial institutions in the region. Other financial institutions have reportedly urged their staff to work from home for the time being.
Hundreds of thousands displaced
At least 634 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest fighting began, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The U.N. refugee agency said at least 759,000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed there, and Israel has reported 12 deaths. The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.
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Melzer reported from Mitzpe Hila, Israel and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.