The U.S. and Israel traded air strikes with Iran across the Middle East on Wednesday as the besieged Tehran government warned its state security forces were ready with “fingers on the trigger” to confront any anti-government protests.
Following an exchange of some of the heaviest bombardments in the region yet on Tuesday, the combatants renewed their attacks on opposing targets in Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf as the war stretched into its 12th day.
The conflict has effectively blocked vital shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, halting the flow of one-fifth of the world’s fossil energy supplies from the petroleum-rich Gulf.
After a major surge in crude oil prices on Monday, global energy prices have tumbled and stock markets rebounded as investors bet that U.S. President Donald Trump would seek to end the war soon.
Adding to market optimism, the International Energy Agency has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history to further stabilize crude prices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing officials familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Nevertheless, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed to block oil shipments from the Gulf unless U.S. and Israeli attacks ceased. And air strikes between the two sides showed no immediate sign of abatement.
A cargo vessel was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in a fire onboard and prompting the crew to evacuate and request assistance, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations on Wednesday.
The maritime body also said it had received a report of a separate incident off the UAE coast, with the master of a container vessel reporting it sustained damage from a suspected but unknown projectile.
The White House on Tuesday reiterated Trump’s threat to hit Iran hard over moves by Tehran to stop the flow of energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Central Command said 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels had been “eliminated” near the strait on Tuesday.
IRAN CALLS FOR HELP IN TARGETING US, ISRAEL
Millions of Israelis were repeatedly driven into bomb shelters overnight as the military warned Iran had launched missiles toward Israel, a sign that Tehran retains the capacity to strike Israel after nearly two weeks of hostilities.
The sound of explosions from air defences intercepting the rockets punctuated the pre-dawn darkness as air raid sirens blared and Israelis scrambled to safe rooms and shelters. There was no immediate word of whether any of the missiles reached the ground.
Iran’s armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi on Wednesday urged regional countries and fellow Muslims to indicate “U.S.-Zionist (Israeli) hiding places” to maximise the precision and impact of Iranian strikes, while minimizing harm to civilians, who he said are “used as human shields”, according to Defapress, a news outlet affiliated with the military.
