The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has become a test of who endures longer. The biggest pressure point appears to be the global economy, as oil prices surge. Iran attacked commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, setting a Thai cargo ship on fire, and Iranian drones also targeted Dubai's airport. The U.S. campaign of airstrikes is now in its 12th day, and Israel is also striking inside Iran while hitting what it says are Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Separately, an Israeli assessment says Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was wounded early in the conflict.
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Governments are working on plans to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil choke point. The Iran war has effectively closed the waterway and pushed up gasoline prices. French President Emmanuel Macron is leading an international effort to reopen the waterway “when circumstances permit.” Retired naval officers say that using warships to escort tankers would make no sense during active combat. They say ships have little room in the waterway to evade attacks. Navies have recent escort experience in the Red Sea against Houthi drones and missiles. Experts say Hormuz poses far higher risks. Iran has missiles, drones, fast boats and naval mines. Insurers also drive decisions. Premiums for ships wanting to use the strait have surged.
An explosive-laden drone blamed on Sudanese paramilitaries has struck a secondary school and a health care center in southern Sudan, killing at least 17 people, mostly schoolgirls, a hospital official and a medical group said. At least 10 people were wounded in Wednesday's strike, according to Dr. Musa al-Majeri, director of the Douiem Hospital. The war-tracking Sudan Doctors Network reported the strike first, which happened in the village of Shukeiri in the White Nile province. It was the latest deadly attack in Sudan’s nearly three-year war. The conflict, which shows no sign of abating, pits the country’s military against the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.
As the Iran war widens, experts say the Middle East’s real strategic weak point may be water — not oil. Much of the Gulf’s drinking supply comes from desalination plants clustered along vulnerable coastlines within easy range of Iranian missiles and drones. Many of the individual plants supply water to millions of people. Without them, major cities could not sustain their current populations. In recent days, desalination plants have been struck by both the U.S. and Iran. Oil spills, contamination and sabotage also could disrupt supplies of the fresh water that also sustains hotels, industry and some agriculture.
A drone strike has hit a Sudan school and medical center, killing 17, mostly schoolgirls, a hospital official says.
AP Wire
The U.S. says it took out more than a dozen mine-laying Iranian vessels, and the Islamic Republic vowed to block the region’s oil exports, saying it would not allow “even a single liter” to be shipped to its enemies. As concerns grew Tuesday about the war’s effect on a strategic waterway, the American military said it destroyed 16 minelayers, though President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports of Iran planting explosives in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil is shipped. The American military released the figure, along with unclassified footage of some of the vessels.
AP Wire
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Tuesday would be the most intense day yet of U.S. strikes inside Iran. The Islamic Republic, its firepower diminished, has vowed to fight on. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the aim of the war is the popular overthrow of Iran's government. U.S. President Donald Trump sent contradictory signals about how long the war could last, fueling uncertainty and wild swings in financial markets Monday. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dismissed any suggestion that Tehran has sought a ceasefire. The U.S. joint chiefs chairman says Iran's missile attacks have fallen 90% and one-way attack drones have decreased 83% since the war began.
French President Emmanuel Macron has visited Cyprus to show support, days after a drone strike hit a British base on the island. It was the first drone attack on European territory during the Iran war. Macron said France dispatches more warships to the Eastern Mediterranean. Macron pledged to defend Cyprus and dispatch additional warships to the Eastern Mediterranean to strengthen allies’ security. He met Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the main air base near Paphos. France has already sent a frigate and air defense systems to the Eastern Mediterranean to boost protection. Greece has also sent fighter jets and frigates.
U.S. President Donald Trump says the war against Iran could be short-lived. Trump made the comment Monday at a news conference. But he also left open the possibility of an escalation in fighting if global oil supplies are disrupted by the Islamic Republic, which chose a new hard-line supreme leader. Oil prices briefly shot to their highest level since 2022 a day after Iran selected Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme leader. Investors saw it as a signal that Iran was digging in 10 days into the war launched by the United States and Israel.
The Iran war has begun its second week. Iran has named a son of its late supreme leader as his successor. U.S. President Donald Trump already had called Mojtaba Khamenei “unacceptable" in the role. Both sides kept striking new targets over the weekend, including civilian ones. Oil prices shot above $100 a barrel. The U.S. military announced the death of another soldier. Saudi Arabia announced the first deaths in the war there. Anger grew in Arab countries over Iran’s launching of hundreds of missiles and drones. The Israeli military’s chief of staff warned that the war “will take a long time.”