Latest Global energy concerns mount as Iran threats stop cargo through Strait of Hormuz

Dubai, Mar 11 (AP) The ongoing American-Israeli war with Iran, for all its complexity and global effects, boils down to a single question: Who can take the pain the longest?
     A surge in oil prices points to what may be Iran's most effective weapon and the United States' biggest vulnerability in continuing the campaign: Damaging the world economy.
     Wednesday's major developments include Iranian attacks against commercial ships — setting a Thai cargo ship ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz — and drones targeting Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy concerns mount.
     The US campaign of airstrikes in Iran is now in its 12th day with no end in sight after hitting more than 5,500 targets.
     The Israeli military is striking across Iran as well as in Lebanon, where Israel says it's targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. An Israeli intelligence assessment also indicates that Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was wounded at the start of the war.
     The war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, at least 570 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The Pentagon said Tuesday that about 140 US service members have been wounded, eight of them severely, and seven killed.
     Here is the latest:
    
     US diplomat says Washington stands with the Lebanese people dragged into war by Hezbollah at the 'behest of Iran'
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     UN Ambassador Mike Waltz told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that the United States supports the Lebanese government's decision to prohibit Hezbollah's military and security activities, and the government's order for the group to immediately disarm.
     The US also welcomes Lebanon's ban on all activities of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, he said.
     “The world must come together now in supporting Lebanon's efforts to exercise its sovereignty across every inch of Lebanese territory,” Waltz said.
     He said the US is responding to Hezbollah's “recklessness” by providing humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese.
    
     Death toll in Lebanon climbs over 600 in the spiralling Israel-Hezbollah conflict
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     Ninety-one children — nearly one in seven dead — were among the 634 people killed by Israeli fire since fighting broke out last week, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. At least 47 women have been killed and more than 1,500 people wounded.
     That's up from 570 people the ministry reported killed as of Tuesday.
     More than 800,000 people have been displaced, mostly from southern Lebanon and the capital's southern suburbs, according to the Lebanese government, which is strapped for cash and has struggled to secure adequate shelter and aid for evacuees.
     Israel's widespread strikes in Lebanon are intensifying, while Iran-backed Hezbollah vows to keep firing missiles and drones into Israel and refuses to disarm.

     UN peacekeeping chief says more than 4,000 weapons fired so far in Lebanon
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     Some 2,733 of these “trajectories” came from Israel along with 323 air attacks, while 1,387 came from Lebanon, United Nations peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the UN Security Council.
     Each of those approximately 4,120 firings from both Israel and Hezbollah could represent multiple projectiles, he added.
     Lacroix noted several incidents jeopardising the safety and security of UNIFIL positions and peacekeepers, including serious injuries to a Ghanaian soldier.
    
    UN aid chief warns Lebanon crisis is worsened by 'out of control' war
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     UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called this “a moment of grave peril for Lebanon and for the region,” as the conflict disrupts markets, supply chains and aid operations.
     Speaking Wednesday at an emergency UN Security Council meeting, he said disruptions to sea routes like the Strait of Hormuz are driving up costs and delaying humanitarian supplies by as much as six months.
     “And when that happens,” he said “the most vulnerable people in Lebanon and across the region are hit first — and hardest,”
    
     White House says investigation into airstrike at Iranian school is ongoing as Trump denies knowledge
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     When asked Wednesday if a preliminary determination has been made into responsibility for the strike that killed more than 165 people, mostly children, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded that “the investigation is still ongoing.”
     Trump was later asked as he left the White House about a report in The New York Times that a preliminary military probe had found the US was responsible for striking the school because of a targeting mistake.
     When asked if he took responsibility for the airstrike as the commander-in-chief of US forces, Trump responded by saying, “I don't know about it.”
     He didn't say anything more.
    
     Trump says he thinks oil companies should use the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran war
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     “I think they should,” the president told reporters when asked if he'd spoken to oil companies, as he left the White House for a trip to Ohio and Kentucky.
     He added of Iran, “We took out just about all of their mines” and that US forces had also destroyed “just about all of their mine ships in one night.”
     The waterway off Iran's coast is vital for oil and gas but has been effectively closed amid the war.
     Iranian forces can target ships using the strait with missiles, drones and mines — and US attempts to limit Iran's mine-laying capabilities is among Washington's efforts to try and make the waterway safer to use.
    
     Strikes in Iran
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     Witnesses in Tehran said they heard loud airstrikes, explosions and heavy fire by anti-aircraft batteries, which sent people running for shelters.      They could also hear the buzzing of drones overhead. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal.
    
     US says large numbers of Americans are declining free evacuation flights
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     The State Department said it had invited nearly 9,000 Americans and their family members for such flights from the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. It said that 300 seats had been available but the flights departed with seats still open after all those who wanted to fly had boarded.
     At least one charter flight in the UAE over the weekend was cancelled after no one showed up for it, officials said.
     Many of those declining charter flight seats have opted to make their own travel plans or elected to stay in the Middle East. More than 43,000 Americans have returned to the US, most of them commercially, since the start of the war with Iran on February 28.
    
     EU promises more humanitarian flights and cash to Lebanon
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     The European Union has given Lebanon 100 million euros (USD 115 million) in humanitarian support, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a call with Lebanon's president.
     “Yesterday, we delivered over 40 tonnes of supplies and we plan to organise more humanitarian flights,” she said in a post on social media, without providing details on the aid.
     The EU is tracking a potential migration crisis in Lebanon and Iran because of the war, and has scrambled to safety return European citizens from the Middle East. Drone attacks in EU-member Cyprus, an island in the Eastern Mediterranean, have drawn statements of support and collective defense from across Europe.
    
    US official says Baghdad embassy's airport support centre hit by Iranian proxy drone
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     There were no deaths or injuries reported after a US Embassy operations centre at Baghdad's airport was hit by a drone launched by Iraq-based Iranian proxies, a State Department official said.
     The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because an investigation into the attack is still ongoing, said Wednesday that the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Centre “was targeted by Iran-backed terrorist militias overnight.” The actual US Embassy compound in Baghdad was not struck in the attack.
     The official condemned the strike and said the US was in close contact with Iraqi authorities “regarding steps to protect US personnel and facilities.”
    
     After Iran hits a Thai cargo ship, Bangkok says it's 'gravely concerned'
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     “In such challenging times,” Thailand's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, “respect for the Charter of the United Nations and principles of international law, such as the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, becomes imperative.” The ministry's statement also called for immediate de-escalation of tensions and negotiations among all parties.
     Authorities were searching for three missing crew members from the Thai cargo ship, which was set ablaze off the coast of Oman, after 20 others were rescued by the Omani navy, according to Thailand's Marine Department.
     At least 12 incidents have been confirmed involving vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, according to two global trackers. The International Maritime Organization says at least seven mariners have been killed.
    
     Trump administration sees allies' use of strategic oil reserves as appropriate
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     US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, speaking ahead of the International Energy Agency announcement, told Fox News that it's appropriate for countries to release oil from their strategic reserves because the challenges in the Strait of Hormuz after the start of the war with Iran pose a “temporary transit problem.”
     The White House did not immediately comment when asked if the US would draw down from its own strategic stockpile, but Burgum expressed comfort with other nations doing so.
     “We've got a transit problem which is temporary,” Burgum said on “Fox & Friends.” “When you have a temporary transit problem that we're resolving militarily and diplomatically, which we can resolve and will resolve, this is the perfect time to think about releasing some of those to take some pressure off the global price.”
        
     US commander says AI helped military hit more than 5,500 targets in Iran
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     Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said that as a result of the US strikes, including one on a “large ballistic missile manufacturing facility,” Iran's ballistic missile and drone attacks have “dropped drastically.” The targets have included more than 60 ships, he said in a video posted to social media Wednesday.
     Cooper also confirmed that the military was using “advanced AI tools” to “sift through vast amounts of data in seconds.” He said these tools are enabling leaders to make smarter decisions faster but stressed that “humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot and when to shoot.”
    
     Israel's UN envoy says Lebanon must act against Hezbollah — or Israel will
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     Ambassador Danny Danon said Israel always prefers diplomacy and talks with the Lebanese government will continue, “but now they have to choose to actually confront Hezbollah — they have to stop Hezbollah.”
     “They have to choose — either they confront Hezbollah or they let us do it,” he said. “There is no other option.”
     Danon was asked by UN reporters ahead of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council meeting on Lebanon how long its military operation would last.
     “As long as there will be a threat against us, we will operate,” he replied.
     Lebanon's cash-strapped military, backed by the US and other governments, has been deploying in recent months across southern Lebanon where Hezbollah has a strong military presence, but it's unclear if they are able or willing to disarm the Iran-backed militant group.
    
     Trump keeps telling America he's winning in Iran. He's less clear in explaining how the war ends
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     Facing jittery global markets and drooping poll numbers since attacking Iran, Trump has cycled from calls for “unconditional surrender” to sounding amenable to an end state in which Iran trades one hard-line ayatollah for another.
     Shifting comments from the Republican president and his top aides are adding to the precariousness of the 12-day-old conflict, which is impacting nearly every corner of the Middle East and causing economic tremors around the globe. With neither side budging, the war is now on an unpredictable path — one in which a credible endgame is still unclear. (AP)
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)