TEHRAN: New attacks hit three commercial ships in the Gulf on Wednesday, with one of the vessels in flames as Iran pressed its campaign against its oil-exporting neighbours, threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and plunging the global energy economy into crisis.
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.Iraq and Lebanon, both home to Iran-backed fighters, have become proxy grounds in the war.
In Lebanon, authorities reported 570 people killed and hundreds of thousands of displaced following Israeli air strikes and ground operations targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah.
New Israeli strikes were reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, while an attack also hit a building in the heart of the capital.
Iran’s military vowed on Wednesday to launch strikes against US and Israeli economic targets in the region, including banks, after overnight attacks hit an Iranian bank.”The enemy has given us free rein to target economic centres and banks belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime,” said the military’s central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, in a statement carried by media, Iranian media said US and Israeli strikes hit a bank in Tehran overnight, killing an unspecified number of employees.
Drones fall near Dubai airport, two ships hit
Drones fell near Dubai airport, injuring four people, while ships were hit in or near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday as Iran kept up its campaign disrupting oil markets and air and maritime traffic.
The oil-rich Gulf has borne the brunt of Iran’s attacks in response to US-Israeli strikes that sparked the Middle East war, with Tehran targeting US assets but also civilian infrastructure.
Iran has also targeted Gulf energy infrastructure and choked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries nearly 20 percent of global oil production, prompting wild swings in prices.
A container ship and a bulk carrier were hit off the coast of the UAE, one off Dubai and the other off the northern Emriate of Ras Al Khaimah by unknown projectiles, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
A third ship was also hit by a projectile off Oman, in the Strait of Hormuz, which caused a fire that was later extinguished according to the UKMTO.
Iran starts laying mines in Strait of Hormuz as war hots up
A day after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) threatened not to let pass ‘a litre of oil’ from the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian forces have started to lay mines in the sea to halt the oil exports along with unleashing early Wednesday defiant new strikes around the region.
The United States has launched an all-out assault on Iranian minelaying vessels, as President Donald Trump warned Tehran of unprecedented military consequences if it targets the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s comments came after Tehran vowed that no Gulf oil would pass through the key waterway, with oil prices remaining highly volatile over the virtual halt of shipping in the strait.
“I am pleased to report that within the last few hours, we have hit, and completely destroyed, 10 inactive minelaying boats and/or ships, with more to follow!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Later, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) wrote on X that the figure had risen to 16 destroyed minelayers “near the Strait of Hormuz.”
CENTCOM’s post included unclassified video footage showing various boats being struck by missiles or other projectiles and exploding.
After several US media outlets said Iran had either started or was on the verge of mining the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said he had no reports that such action had begun. But Trump warned: “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.
“If, on the other hand, they remove what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!”
The United States would also use the missiles it had previously employed to blow up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters to “permanently eliminate” any mine-laying boat in the Gulf strait, Trump added. “They will be dealt with quickly and violently.”
