Iran defiant as strikes hit Gulf transport, energy hubs

TEHRAN: Iran said it was ready to take the Middle East war “as far as necessary” as it launched strikes across the region on Monday, while Donald Trump piled pressure on world powers to help reopen a vital shipping lane.

Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent as Iran attacks shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and launches waves of missile and drone strikes in the Gulf in retaliation for the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday they had targeted Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, as well as military bases used by US forces in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“By now they have… understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran. A drone sparked a fuel tank fire near Dubai airport, disrupting travel, while a missile killed a civilian in their car in Abu Dhabi, and another drone sparked a blaze in an area housing oil infrastructure in the eastern emirate of Fujairah. “It has been a difficult few weeks hearing explosions regularly, but the Iranian attacks followed me in my last hours before I could fly back home,” a witness at Dubai airport told AFP, adding that passengers had been evacuated to a lower floor after the attack. Explosions hit the Iranian capital on Monday as air defence systems were activated, an AFP journalist said, and Israel said it had also targeted the cities of Shiraz and Tabriz.

A loud blast rang out over Jerusalem as well, after the military detected incoming missiles.

More than two weeks into the Middle East war, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said they still had “thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day”.

US President Trump called this weekend for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one fifth of global crude.