Dubai, Mar 19: Iran intensified its attacks on oil and gas facilities around the Gulf on Thursday in retaliation for an Israeli attack on a key Iranian gas field, dramatically raising the stakes in a war that is sending shock waves through the global economy.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked to as high as USD 118 a barrel, up more than 60 per cent since Israel and the United States started the war with Iran.
The direct attacks on energy infrastructure mark a major escalation in the US-Israeli war with Iran. One think-tank said Israel’s targeting of South Pars, the Iranian part of the world’s largest gas field, aimed to inflict more pressure on the Iranian government by making living conditions for its civilians intolerable.
Iran responded by hitting a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea and setting Qatari liquefied natural gas facilities and two Kuwaiti oil refineries ablaze.
US President Donald Trump warned on social media that the US would retaliate and “massively blow up the entirety” of Iran’s gas field if it continues. The Pentagon, meanwhile, asked the White House for another USD 200 billion to carry out the war, a senior administration official said.
Israeli military says it struck Iranian targets in the Caspian Sea for the first time
The strikes hit dozens of targets on Iran’s northern coast on the Caspian Sea, including missile ships, a shipyard and a command and control centre, Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said Thursday.
Egypt Red Crescent facilitates aid entry and assists patients as Gaza border reopens
The Egyptian Red Crescent supported Palestinian medical patients crossing in and out of Egypt.
The Rafah border crossing with Gaza reopened Thursday for after Israel closed it from the Palestinian side when the Iran war began.
Teams on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing assisted people returning to the Gaza Strip, provided psychosocial support to children, and helped facilitate the entry of an aid convoy carrying 1,950 tons of food, flour, fuel and winter supplies.
It remains unclear whether the convoy entered Gaza after inspection at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom Crossing.
WTO warns prolonged high oil and gas prices in 2026 would slash’ already grim trade forecast
The World Trade Organisation issued the warning as it published a regular forecast that trade growth in goods — even before the energy market shocks due to the Mideast war — would drop to 1.9 per cent this year, compared to 4.6 per cent in 2025.
If crude oil and liquefied natural gas prices remain elevated throughout 2026, it said Thursday’s economic growth forecast would darken further, slashing another 0.5 percentage points off global trade and as much as 1 percentage point for regions dependent on energy imports.
And that scenario would in turn reduce growth in the volume of goods traded to 1.4 per cent, the Geneva-based trade body said Thursday. Net fuel-importing regions like Asia and Europe would face the biggest cuts, while net fuel exporters that can still export “would broadly enjoy more income and therefore more import growth”.
US Jews grapple with a surge in attacks and bitter rifts over Israeli policies
There is widespread anger over rising attacks on Jewish communities in the US, alongside deep internal divisions over whether to support or oppose Israel’s actions in the Middle East.
Rabbis nationwide also say soaring security costs are straining congregations, with some synagogues spending over USD 1 million annually as threats rise.
Last week, communities united in condemning an attempted attack at a Detroit-area synagogue. A man whose family members were killed by an Israeli strike in Lebanon drove a pickup truck into a building hosting more than 100 preschool children; he later killed himself in a gunfight with police.
“No matter what Israel does, no matter how immoral or brutal or horrifying, it doesn’t justify attacking a synagogue or justifying attacking American Jews in any way,” said Peter Beinart, a Jewish author and commentator.
Health of the new Iranian leader is unclear’ after strike, Gabbard says
The health of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains uncertain, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Congress Thursday.
Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, Gabbard said his exact condition, as well as the leadership structure in Iran, is not fully known to US intelligence.
“It is unclear his status or his involvement. He was injured very severely in one of the Israeli strikes,” Gabbard said. “So the decision-making is unclear.”
Officials have said the new leader was wounded and possibly disfigured by the Israeli strike. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement on the war last week, though he did not appear on camera and the speech was read by a news anchor.
He was chosen to succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a major attack by Israel and the United States at the start of the war.
Japan and European nations demand end to attacks on shipping, oil and gas
The leaders of five European countries and Japan condemned “in the strongest terms” Iranian attacks on shipping and oil and gas facilities, and demanded Tehran reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
BritishPrime Minister Keir Starmer issued a joint statement Thursday with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan, demanding Iran “cease immediately” its drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping.
The countries said they are ready to contribute to “appropriate efforts” to ensure ships can pass safely through the strait, a key oil route. British officials have acknowledged that planning for such action is at a very early stage.
The leaders also called for a “comprehensive moratorium” on attacks on oil and gas installations.
UAE says it’s defending against incoming Iranian missiles
The United Arab Emirates said Thursday afternoon its air defence were engaging an incoming Iranian missile barrage.
Hegseth warns that US military controls Iran’s fate
Hegseth warned that Iran should stop targeting neighboring countries with drones and missiles as American forces continue to attack the Islamic Republic.
“The United States military controls the fate of that country,” Hegseth said Thursday from the Pentagon. “Iran has the ability to make the right choices. It should not, going forward, target Arab allies, Arab countries, trying to create pain, the pain that they created themselves.”
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added that US forces continue to attack deeper into Iranian territory, with A-10 Warthog attack planes hunting Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz and Apache helicopters striking Iranian drones.
Caine said the US military has also dropped 5,000-pound penetrator weapons into underground weapon-storage facilities.
Hegseth says US taking countermeasures’ to help Iranians get information
Without giving details, the defence secretary said the US was working “to ensure that messaging is delivered, not just to the Iranian people writ large, but to the right audiences, certain audiences that need to hear certain things about what their fate might look like or what their choices are.”
An internet blackout imposed by the government in Tehran has stifled almost all communications from the country, making it nearly impossible to reliably survey Iranian perspectives on the escalating conflict.
“Their own people can barely receive a lot of those messages and communicate because of the blackout that they’ve imposed upon them,” Hegseth said. “But we work around that for sure.” (AP)
