Iran targets commercial ships, Dubai airport and oil facilities as global energy concerns grow

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran attacked commercial ships through the Persian Gulf on Wednesday and targeted Dubai International Airport, intensifying a campaign to squeeze the oil-rich region as global energy concerns escalated and U.S. and Israeli airstrikes hit the Islamic Republic.

Two Iranian drones crashed near Dubai International Airport, home of the long-haul airline Emirates and the busiest in the world for international travel. Four people were injured but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.

Iran’s joint military command announced it would begin attacking banks and financial institutions in the Middle East, a threat that would particularly put at risk 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 shell hit a container ship off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, setting it on fire and forcing most of the crew to abandon ship, the British military said. Kuwait said its defenses shot down eight Iranian drones and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted five drones heading toward the kingdom’s Shaybah oil field.

Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the strait through which about a fifth of all oil is sent from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Arab Gulf nations, aiming to generate enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their attacks.

The U.N. Security Council will vote later Wednesday on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council that demands that Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbors.

Israel said it renewed attacks on Tehran, Iran’s capital, following multiple attacks on Tuesday that residents described as some of the most intense during the war. Explosions were also heard in Beirut and southern Lebanon after Israel said it was attacking targets linked to the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.

Israel hits Lebanon with new attacks

The attacks set fire to a building in the densely populated Aicha Bakkar area of ​​central Beirut, engulfing the top two floors. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Other Israeli strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon killed 14 people, and a Red Cross worker also died Wednesday from injuries sustained Monday when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while rescuing people from an earlier attack.

AP Photo/Hussein Malla

So far, more than 500 people have been killed in Lebanon since Hezbollah unleashed the latest round of fighting with Israel after US and Israeli attacks on Iran began.

Iran launches multiple salvos against Israel and Gulf Arab nations

Israel warned of three Iranian attacks early Wednesday, and sirens were heard in Tel Aviv and elsewhere, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

AP Photo/Oded Balilty

Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major facility operated by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and intercepted two drones over the eastern city of Hafar al-Batin.

In the Strait of Hormuz, north of Oman, a cargo ship was hit by a shell and set on fire, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre, run by the British military.

The center also reported an attack on a container ship off the United Arab Emirates and said “the extent of the damage is currently unknown, but the crew is investigating.” Another ship was hit by a shell in the Persian Gulf, he added. The crew was reported safe.

The attacks on ships follow intense US airstrikes against Iranian navy assets and the port city of Bandar Abbas on Tuesday.

The UAE’s air defenses worked to intercept incoming Iranian fire since early Wednesday morning. Iranian attacks have killed six people and injured 122 others so far. Bahrain also reported the arrival of Iranian fire early in the morning.

The Iranian threat against financial institutions did not identify any specifically and came after a Tehran location of Bank Sepah, the state financial institution sanctioned by the United States for funding its armed forces, was attacked early Wednesday, killing its staff, state news agency IRNA reported.

At the United Nations, the Security Council will vote Wednesday afternoon on the Gulf Cooperation Council resolution, according to three diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

The draft resolution, obtained by The News, condemns Iran’s attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The measure calls for an immediate end to all attacks and threats against neighboring states, including through proxies.

It would be the first Security Council resolution considered since the start of the war on February 28.

Oil prices remain high on fears of prolonged shipping disruption

Oil prices remained well below Monday’s highs, but the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was still about 20% higher on Wednesday than when the war began, and consumers around the world are already feeling the pain at the pump.

Rising oil prices have been shaking financial markets around the world over concerns that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.

The US military said on Tuesday it had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, although US President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were still no reports of Iran mining the passage, a prospect experts warned about before the war.

If the strait is mined, clearing it could take at least weeks after the conflict ends.

Some tankers, believed to be linked to Iran, continue to cross the strait making so-called “dark” transits, meaning they do not activate Automatic Identification System tracks, which show where vessels are. Ships carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil often turn off their AIS trackers.

Security firm Neptune P2P Group said on Wednesday that seven ships had passed through the strait since March 8. Of those, five were linked to shipping associated with Iran, he said. In normal times, 100 or more ships typically pass through the strait daily from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.

Meanwhile, commodities tracking firm Kpler said Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal in the Gulf of Oman. An oil tanker loaded approximately 2 million barrels into Jask on March 7, he said.

Speculation grows about the health of Iran’s new supreme leader

Meanwhile, concerns grew over the health of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei after comments that he was “injured.”

Khamenei, 56, son of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has not been seen since becoming supreme leader on Monday. His father and his wife were killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28 that started the war.

AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

Foreigners flee region as death toll rises

In addition to the more than 500 dead in Lebanon, Iran has said more than 1,300 people have died there and Israel has reported 12 dead.

The United States has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered serious injuries.

Many foreigners have been leaving the Persian Gulf region since the war began, including more than 45,000 UK citizens, the British Foreign Office said. About 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.

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Magdy reported from Cairo and Rising from Bangkok. News writers Sally Abou AIJoud in Beirut, Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Julie Watson in San Diego and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.