DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel killed another top Iranian official — the intelligence minister — in its campaign against the Islamic Republic’s leadership, and an Iranian offshore natural gas field was struck Wednesday amid the war's escalating pressure on the region’s economic lifeblood: energy.
Iran has been striking its Persian Gulf neighbors’ energy facilities since the war started on Feb. 28, and has made the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel — through which one-fifth of the world's oil travels — nearly impassable.
The price of oil surged another 5% to over $108 a barrel on international markets, increasing the price of gasoline and other goods, and squeezing the global economy. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, is now up close to 50% since the start of the war.
As the Trump administration looks for ways to boost oil supplies and lower prices, the Treasury Department on Wednesday eased sanctions on Venezuela, saying U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with the country's state-owned oil and gas company.
After Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was killed in an overnight strike, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz promised “significant surprises” to come. A day earlier, Israel killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force, Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani.
Iran retaliated Wednesday by unleashing attacks against Israel, where two people were killed near Tel Aviv. Iran also attacked Saudi Arabia’s vast Eastern Province, home to many of its oil fields, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States was informed about Israel's plans to strike Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field, but did not take part in it, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say if the U.S. administration agreed with the Israeli decision to attack the gas field — part of the world’s largest such resource and a pillar of Iran's energy supplies.
The UAE’s Foreign Ministry denounced the attack as “a dangerous escalation.”
Iran keeps up strikes on Gulf countries' oil facilities
Iran has been targeting the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbors, as well as military bases, as part of a strategy to drive up oil prices and put pressure on the U.S. and Israel to back down.
Iran has vowed to continue to crimp shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean. Since the war started, a few ships have gotten through — some Iranian, but also vessels from India, Turkey and elsewhere. Iran insists the waterway is open, just not to the U.S. or many of its allies.
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed growing frustration that no allies have offered to help open the strait. On Tuesday, he posted on social media: “WE DON’T NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
A top British military official, Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, said Wednesday that any reopening of the strait is a long way off because of “asymmetric threats” to shipping that include mines, attack boats and drones.
Iraq, which paused operations at its main oil terminal on the Persian Gulf last week, said Wednesday it had reached a deal with the autonomous northern Iraqi Kurdish administration to begin exporting 250,000 barrels of crude oil daily via pipeline to a port in Turkey.
Saudi Arabia is also bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, sending some of its oil by pipeline across the country to be shipped from a Red Sea port.
Iran launches multiple-warhead missiles at Israel
Responding to the killing of Larijani, the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Wednesday it had attacked central Israel with multiple-warhead missiles that have a better chance of evading defense systems. Footage filmed by The Associated Press showed at least one such missile releasing a cluster of munitions over Israel.
Larijani was a senior policy adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January for his role “coordinating” Iran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests. Gen. Soleimani was also sanctioned by the U.S. and other nations for his role in suppressing dissent for years.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei expressed condolences for the slaying of Larijani, according to a written statement published in Iranian media. “Undoubtedly, the assassination of such a person shows the extent of his importance and the hatred of the enemies of Islam towards him,” the statement said.
The younger Khamenei has not made a public appearance since his father was killed in the war’s opening salvos during which he reportedly was also wounded.
Renewed strikes in Iran
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency said an airstrike hit a courthouse complex in Larestan, a county in southern Iran, and that at least eight people were killed. More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict started, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Mizan also reported that Iran executed a man on charges of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The report identified him as Kourosh Keyvani and alleged he “provided images and information on sensitive locations” to Israel.
Sweden’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it said was the execution of a Swedish citizen on Wednesday in Iran. The citizen, whose name was not made public, was arrested last year but additional details were not available.
Israel pressures Hezbollah in Lebanon
In Lebanon, Israel kept up intense pressure on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, hitting multiple apartment buildings in Beirut and killing at least a dozen people. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel after the war in Iran had begun.
Israel flattened an apartment building in central Beirut about an hour after issuing an evacuation notice — the fourth time the building was targeted. Israel’s military claimed it was being used by Hezbollah to store “millions of dollars intended to finance its activities,” without providing evidence.
Ten people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in central Beirut, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Another two people were killed in an airstrike in Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley, it said.
Israeli strikes have displaced more than 1 million Lebanese — roughly 20% of the population — according to the Lebanese government, which says 968 people have been killed.
In Israel, 14 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.
Magdy reported from Cairo and Keaten from Geneva. Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, David Rising in Bangkok, Stefanie Dazio in Berlin, and Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.
