Dubai, March 16: US President Donald Trump said he has demanded that about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open as Iranian strikes continued to rain down on Gulf countries on Monday.
Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest, gradually restarted operations after a drone struck a fuel tank and started a fire. Authorities said it was quickly contained, and no injuries were reported.
Tehran has accused the United States, without evidence, of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the United Arab Emirates to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports, as oil prices soared. Brent crude oil was trading near USD 105 per barrel on Monday.
Trump said the US is negotiating with countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil normally flows, but declined to name them.
Israeli strikes have deepened Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis, with more than 850 people killed and over 850,000 displaced.
Bahrain reports missile and drone attacks
Bahrain’s Defence Ministry says air defence systems have responded to attacks on Monday morning.
The ministry says four missiles and three drones were fired.
Israel sends troops into Lebanon for a limited operation
The Israeli military says it sent additional ground troops into Lebanon for what it calls a “limited and targeted operation.”
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani says the latest deployment is meant to defend Israeli border communities against attacks from the Hezbollah militant group.
Shoshani says Hezbollah has sent hundreds of fighters from its elite Radwan unit toward the border since the militant group entered the war two weeks ago.
He says Israel carried out artillery and airstrikes on multiple sites before sending in the troops.
Earlier in the war, Israel beefed up the presence of ground troops inside Lebanon in what it says is an attempt to prevent attacks on its northern border towns.
Israeli strikes on South Lebanon kill 3, including 2 paramedics
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says one person was killed by an Israeli airstrike early Monday on a home in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Sir.
The agency says another strike occurred after paramedics from the Islamic Health Society, Hezbollah’s health arm, arrived at the scene.
The agency says the second strike killed two paramedics and wounded another person.
Israeli military says 70 per cent of Iranian launchers destroyed
The Israeli military says it has destroyed an estimated 70 per cent of Iran’s missile launchers during the first two weeks of the war.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters Monday that while Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel, the number of launches has been greatly reduced.
He says Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes in Iran, knocking out 85 per cent of Iran’s air defences and targeting a number of Iranian nuclear sites.
Shoshani says the war will go on “for as long as needed” and says Israel still has thousands of targets it is prepared to strike.
Stop military ops immediately, China in response to Trump’s call
China on Monday called on all sides to immediately stop military operations in West Asia in response to US President Donald Trump’s call to join other countries, including Beijing, to help keep Strait of Hormuz open for international transport.
The effective closure of the vital waterway by Iran in retaliation for airstrikes by the US and Israel has proved catastrophic for global energy and trade flows, causing the largest oil supply disruption and soaring global oil prices.
China also said it is in talks with the US about Trump’s planned visit to Beijing later this month.
About Trump’s call to China and other countries to deploy warships to keep the strait “open and safe,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing here that the recent tensions in Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters impacted the flow of the goods and international energy and has damaged regional peace and global stability.
Again China calls on all sides to immediately stop military operations to avoid further escalation of tensions and prevent regional turbulence having a larger impact on the world economic growth, Lin said. (AP)
