Beirut, Mar 16 : Explosions echoed across Beirut early Monday as Israel struck the Lebanese capital. It also launched a new wave of attacks on Tehran, while Dubai was forced to temporarily close its airport after an Iranian drone hit a fuel tank.
Since being attacked by the United States and Israel more than two weeks ago, Iran has been regularly hitting Israel, American bases and its Gulf Arab neighbours’ energy infrastructure with drones and missiles.
It has also effectively stopped shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported, giving rise to growing fears of a global energy crisis and putting pressure on Washington as consumers are already feeling the pain at the pump.
Brent crude, the international standard, remained stubbornly over USD 100 a barrel on Monday. It was at USD 104 in early trading, up nearly 45 per cent since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. It has spiked as high as about USD 120 during the conflict.
President Donald Trump said he has made demands to about seven countries to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments. His party is growingly concerned that rising prices for American consumers will hurt the Republicans in elections this fall.
“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory,” Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One. He did not identify the countries, but has previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called claims that his country may be seeking a negotiated end to the war “delusional,” saying in a social media post early Monday that his country was seeking neither “truce nor talks.”
“Our Powerful Armed Forces will keep firing until POTUS realises that illegal war he’s imposing on both Americans and Iranians is wrong and must never be repeated,” he wrote on X.
Iran hits Dubai airport, forcing temporary closure
As morning broke on Monday, a drone hit a fuel tank near Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international passenger traffic, causing a large fire.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze, and there were no injuries reported, but the airport temporarily suspended all flights. Emirates, which uses the airport as its main hub, said all of its flights were “suspended until further notice.”
Later, the UAE’s Defence Ministry said its forces were working to intercept another round of Iranian missiles and drones.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones toward Gulf countries hosting US military assets since the war began. Emirati authorities say most have been intercepted by air defences, though debris and some drones have fallen inside the country.
Iranian officials have recently accused the UAE of allowing its territory to be used for attacks against Iran. Emirati officials have rejected the allegations as misleading and said the country’s actions have been defensive.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said it had intercepted a wave of 35 Iranian drones sent at its eastern region, home to major oil installations.
Israel’s military said early Monday that Iran launched missiles toward Israel as well.
Israel’s military says Iran is firing cluster bombs that can evade some air defences and scatter submunitions across multiple locations.
Israel hits Beirut and launches new attacks on Tehran
Massive explosions were heard in Beirut as Israel launched new attacks on the Lebanese capital before dawn, saying it was striking infrastructure related to the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia group.
The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for many neighbourhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon. To date, over 800,000 people have been displaced by Israel’s campaign in Lebanon.
At least 850 people have been killed by Israeli strikes so far, including 107 children and 66 women.
Not long after Israel’s military announced it had launched new strikes on Tehran targeting infrastructure, explosions were heard in the Iranian capital and outlying areas.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran so far, according to the Red Cross.
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire, and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 US military members have been killed, six in a plane crash in Iraq last week.
Trump threatens to remember’ which allies do not help
On Air Force One, Trump wouldn’t say which countries could be part of the coalition he wants to police the Strait of Hormuz to provide security for oil tankers and other commercial ships passing through.
But he said he won’t forget the countries that decline to help. He named British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who he said initially declined to put British aircraft carriers “into harm’s way.”
“Whether we get support or not, but I can say this, and I said to them: We will remember,” Trump said.
On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament that her government “has not heard anything” from Washington about Trump’s call for ships to help protect the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan imports more than 90 per cent of its crude oil from the Middle East, however, and she said there had been discussions about what could be done to protect Japanese ships “regardless of a US request.”
Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said he has no plans to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz under the current safety conditions.
Japan on Monday began releasing its oil reserves to address concerns about supply shortages and rising prices.
Trump has speculated that prices would fall, but wouldn’t directly answer whether his administration is talking about selling oil futures as a way to cap surging oil prices, something his interior secretary had mentioned as a possibility.
“The prices are going to come tumbling down as soon as it’s over. And it’s going to be over pretty quickly,” he told reporters. (AP)
