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Iran Targets Oil Facilities as Global Energy Concerns Grow
Commercial Ships, Dubai Airport Also Targeted
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranattacked commercial shipson March 11 across the Persian Gulf and targeted Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region asglobal energy concerns mountedand American and Israeli airstrikes pounded the Islamic Republic.
TwoIranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the longhaul carrier Emirates and the world’s busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.
Iran's joint military command announced it would start targeting banks and financial institutions in the Middle East. That would put at risk particularly Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.
Earlier, a projectile hit a Thai cargo ship off the coast of Oman in theStrait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze. Authorities are searching for three missing crew members from the Mayuree Naree after 20 were rescued by the Omani navy, according to Thailand’s Marine Department.
Meanwhile, an assessment from Israeli intelligence said it believed Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was wounded at start of the war.
An Israeli intelligence official and a reservist with knowledge of the situation spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media. They gave no details on the nature of the injuries.
Gulf shipping reroutes resulting from Operation Epic Fury
More than 80 containerships were en route to the Persian Gulf the day before Operation Epic Fury. In the immediate aftermath, vessel numbers declined drastically as shipping lines diverted traffic toward ports across the… — Kpler (@Kpler)
Khamenei — the son of the lateSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei— has not been seen since succeeding his father on March 9. His father and wife both were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the conflict.
Separately, Kuwait said its defenses downed eight Iranian drones and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted five heading toward the kingdom’s Shaybah oil field.
Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow strait through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped. It has alsotargeted oil fields and refineriesin Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enoughglobal economic painto pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.
The U.N. Security Council was to vote later March 11 on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council demanding Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbors.
Witnesses reported continuous airstrikes hitting Tehran after Israel said it had renewed its attacks. Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern Lebanon after Israel said it was hitting targets connected toIran-backed Hezbollah militants.
New Strikes on Lebanon
The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut’s densely populated Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said four people were wounded.
Other Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon killed 14 people, and a Red Cross worker also died March 11 of wounds sustained March 9, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said March 11 that 570 people have been killed in the country since that latest fighting began. Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel after the United States and Israel began the wider war with their surprise bombardment of Iran.
Iran Launches Multiple Salvos
Israel warned of Iranian attacks and sirens rang out in Tel Aviv and elsewhere, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
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Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major U.S.- and Saudi-operated facility, and intercepted two drones over the eastern city of Hafar al-Batin.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military, reported an attack on a containership off the United Arab Emirates, saying the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew.” Another ship was hit by a projectile in the Persian Gulf, it said. The crew was reported safe.
The ship attacks follow intense American airstrikes targeting Iranian navy assets and the port city of Bandar Abbas on March 10.
The Iranian threat against financial institutions did not identify any specifically. It came after a Tehran location of Bank Sepah, the state-owned financial institution sanctioned by the U.S. over funding its armed forces, came under attack early March 11, killing staffers there, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
At the United Nations, the Security Council was to vote March 11 afternoon on the Gulf Cooperation Council resolution, according to three diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.
The draft resolution, obtained by the Associated Press, condemns Iran’s attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan. The measure calls for an immediate end to all strikes and threats against neighboring states, including through proxies.
It would be the first Security Council resolution considered since the start of the war on Feb. 28.
Oil Prices Stay High
Oil pricesremained well below March 9 peaks but the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was still up some 20% March 11 from when the war began, and consumers around the world are already feeling thepain at the pump.
Germany and Austria said they are releasing parts oftheir oil reservesfollowing an International Energy Agency request for its members to release 400 million barrels to help temper energy price spikes.
The largest-ever previous collective release of emergency stocks by IEA member countries was 182.7 million barrels, in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Japanalso saidit will release some of its reserves starting March 16.
Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow strait through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped. It has alsotargeted oil fields and refineriesin Gulf Arab nations
The U.S. military said March 10 it had destroyed16 Iranian minelayersnear the Strait of Hormuz, though U.S. President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports yet of Iran mining the passage.
If the strait is mined, it could take at least weeks to clean it up once the conflict is over.
Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the strait making so-called “dark” transits -- meaning they aren’t turning on their Automatic Identification System trackers, which show where vessels are. Vessels carrying sanctioned Iranian crude often turn off their AIS trackers.
The security firm Neptune P2P Group said March 11 there had been seven ships pass through the strait since March 8. Of them, five were linked to Iranian-associated shipping, it said. In ordinary times the strait typically sees 100 ships or more transit daily from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Oman.
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Meanwhile, the commodity-tracking firm Kpler said Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. A tanker loaded roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on March 7, it said.
In addition to the 570 killed in Lebanon, Iran has said that more than 1,300 people have been killed there and Israel has reported 12 people dead.
The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.
Magdy reported from Cairo, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AIJoud in Beirut, Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.
