Smoke rises after airstrikes in Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2026. /VCG Smoke rises after airstrikes in Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2026. /VCG Israel said the war against Iran was entering its "decisive phase" on Saturday, as explosions rocked cities across the Middle East, with strikes on the US embassy in Baghdad and a major Emirati energy facility. Speaking during a situation assessment with army chief Eyal Zamir and other senior officers, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that this decisive phase "will last as long as necessary." On Saturday, black smoke rose above Washington's embassy in Iraq, the second time it has been targeted since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched their joint attack on Iran and plunged the Middle East into a conflict that has sent shockwaves through the global economy. Millions have been displaced by waves of drone, missile and aerial bombardment, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), while more than 1,200 people have reportedly been killed in Iran, with little sign of the conflict slowing down as it entered its third week. Clouds of dark black smoke were also seen rising on Saturday from Fujairah, home to a major Emirati oil storage and export terminal, shortly after Iran's military warned UAE civilians off port areas. US threatens to strike oil infrastructure of Kharg Island US President Donald Trump said on Friday that US forces had struck Iran's Kharg Island, its biggest oil export hub, and "obliterated every MILITARY target" while sparing its energy facilities. But Trump threatened to strike the oil infrastructure there unless Tehran stopped attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a warning that could further roil markets coping with a historic supply disruption. "Should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision," Trump wrote. Trump also said the US Navy would start escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz "very soon." US media raised the possibility of a ground invasion, with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reporting the Pentagon had dispatched the Japan-based amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli to the region with some 2,500 Marines. Plumes of smoke and fire rise after debris from an intercepted Iranian drone struck an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2026. /VCG Plumes of smoke and fire rise after debris from an intercepted Iranian drone struck an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2026. /VCG Defiant Iran Iran, however, struck a defiant note, playing down the extent of the damage on Kharg Island while threatening to step up its use of more powerful weapons and issuing warnings that parts of the United Arab Emirates were a legitimate target. Iranian media confirmed the Kharg Island's oil facilities were unaffected. Iran had threatened US-linked oil and energy firms would be "turned into a pile of ashes" if they were hit. Nine ballistic missiles and 33 drones were launched from Iran towards the UAE on Saturday, the UAE Ministry of Defense said, making a total of 294 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,600 drones launched from Iran since the war started. Iran also vowed to increase its usage of upgraded weapons, particularly ballistic missiles and other missiles with greater destructive power, Iranian defense ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying in state media. Iranian General, Mohsen Rezaei, was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that "the end of the war is in our hands. We will consider its cessation only under two conditions: first, we must receive full compensation for the damage caused, and second, the USA must leave the Persian Gulf." Rescue workers inspect an apartment damaged in an Israeli airstrike as thick smoke fills the building in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, March 14, 2026. /VCG Rescue workers inspect an apartment damaged in an Israeli airstrike as thick smoke fills the building in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, March 14, 2026. /VCG 'Existential battle' Beyond the Gulf, Türkiye said NATO forces shot down a ballistic missile launched from Iran – the third such interception in the war. The conflict has also engulfed Lebanon, where Hezbollah has launched attacks on Israel, pledging to "fulfill its duty" after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hezbollah's leader, Naim Qassem, has called the current conflict an "existential battle." Israel has responded with air and ground assaults, killing at least 773 people according to the Lebanese authorities, and issuing evacuation orders that have displaced hundreds of thousands. An overnight strike in southern Lebanon killed a dozen doctors, paramedics and nurses at a healthcare clinic, Lebanese health authorities said Saturday.
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A tanker identified as the Kaifan was struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman’s Limah in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a July 21 report from UK Maritime Trade Operations. No ships were observed transiting the strait that day. Attribution of the strike and links to prior incidents have not been confirmed by the vessel’s owner.
Goldman Sachs has projected Brent crude averaging $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 in the following year, conditional on reduced Middle East tensions, while noting upside risks from potential shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz or Red Sea.
Brent prices rose above $91 per barrel amid recent U.S.-Iran exchanges and Houthi threats to Saudi shipments before edging lower on Tuesday. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that mediators had proposed a 10-day ceasefire to preserve an interim agreement.
Opening summary: Iran claims attacks on strait of Hormuz ships amid fresh US strikes Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East crisis. Iran attacked a tanker in the strait of Hormuz early on Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis announced they were imposing an immediate maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea after the two sides traded fire last week for the first time in years.
A Houthi official said the Bab al-Mandeb strait – at the southern end of the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade usually passes – would be closed to the Saudis in response to the kingdom’s “unjust blockade on Yemenis for over 10 years”.
Saudi Arabia said it would take “all necessary measures to protect its vessels in accordance with international law”. A 10 consecutive night of US airstrikes has not compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies.
But even as Iran’s president said the country had returned “full-scale war”, the Iranian interior minister travelled to Pakistan – a key mediator in the conflict – for talks. In key developments: The latest US strikes came hours after Donald Trump said Iran would pay “many times over” for killing US soldiers after multiple service members were killed in action over the weekend.
A tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the Hormuz strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack as well as two other attacks on ships in the waterway on Monday.
The US military’s Central Command said its latest airstrikes were to “degrade” Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait and included hitting military command centres and missile and drone launch sites. Iranian media reported strikes in parts of the country including Bandar Abbas, Tabriz and Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power.
Iran’s launched attacks in response against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, which all host US forces. Oil prices softened after hitting their highest levels in more than a month in the previous session. Brent crude futures eased 0.4% to $88.87 a barrel by 0052 GMT on Tuesday while US West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was steady at $82.
47 a barrel. Democrats have seized on the deaths of three US troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Trump to urgently reverse his resumption of the war with Iran amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties. The Lebanese army began taking charge of security in three southern villages, the US said, as a deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah faced its first test on the ground.
US forces struck the tanker Settebello in the Gulf of Oman on June 10, killing three Indian crew members when munitions hit the engine room and adjacent areas. Maritime tracking data indicate the vessel had transported Iranian oil under US sanctions for several years and conducted offshore transfers prior to the strike.
The US military described the action as a precision operation, while reports note the ship was stationary at the time.