Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Gulf energy targets on Thursday, hours after two oil tankers were hit, sending crude prices soaring again despite record reserve releases.
The renewed drone and missile attacks against Iran’s Gulf neighbours and Israel followed a warning from Tehran that it could wage a prolonged war that would “destroy” the world economy.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile insisted Iran was facing imminent defeat, though he cautioned that did not mean the war would end “immediately.”
The war launched by the United States and Israel has rapidly spread across the region, with hundreds killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, and sparked global economic upheaval.
On Thursday morning, Bahrain told residents to stay inside and close windows after an Iranian attack on fuel tanks, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted drones headed towards the Shaybah oil field and the embassies district.
Earlier, drones struck fuel tanks at Oman’s Salalah port, where operations were subsequently suspended.
Shipping in and around the crucial Strait of Hormuz chokepoint also came under attack, with a container ship near the United Arab Emirates hit by an “unknown projectile,” the UK maritime agency said in an alert Thursday.
The projectile caused a small fire onboard, but all crew were reported as safe, the agency said.
That incident followed an attack on two oil tankers near Iraq that authorities said Thursday had killed at least one crew member,
Another 38 had been rescued but a search for others was ongoing, authorities said.
