Oil and gas crisis, key port in flames, Trump claims ‘victory’ coming (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

11 March 2026

An oil tanker has reportedly been hit by a drone in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Basra, Iraq, according to local channels.

Videos shared online show massive bursts of fire engulfing an unknown vessel.

“Over the past 11 days, our military has virtually destroyed Iran,” President Donald Trump told a rally at Verst Logistics in Hebron, Kentucky. “We don’t wanna leave early, do we? We gotta finish the job!”

The US will likely tap “a little bit” of its strategic petroleum reserve to help ease oil prices amid the war on Iran, President Donald Trump has announced. 

“We’ll do that – and then we’ll fill it up. I filled it up once, and I’ll fill it up again. Right now we’ll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down,” Trump told WKRC broadcaster.

Oman’s Salalah port continued to burn into the night, according to footage circulating online. Fire has engulfed multiple fuel tanks and other infrastructure, videos show.

Iran’s Press TV media outlet has published a video presumably showing the moment an Iranian air defense missile shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone in Kerman Province.

Hezbollah has launched ‘Operation Devouring Sparrow’ against Israel, targeting its northern territories, Iran’s Fars News agency has reported.

The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed that several rockets had been fired from across the border. According to the IDF, Israeli warplanes are “striking additional launchers and infrastructure” belonging to Hezbollah. The IDF also reported impacts “in various areas in northern Israel.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, is in Florida for talks with representatives of the Trump administration, a source has told RT. Dmitriev previously held negotiations with US officials about ways to kickstart bilateral economic relations.

Footage has been circulating on social media purportedly depicting the aftermath of a drone strike on the port of Salalah in Oman on Wednesday. 

Fuel tanks and other infrastructure were apparently set ablaze in what is a major maritime transportation hub.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has released footage purportedly showing an airstrike on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel in Iran. 

According to the Israeli military, the recent wave of attacks hit targets in Tehran, including the IRGC headquarters, as well as western Iran.

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has “lost their navy, they’ve lost their air force, they have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all,” with all Iranian leaders presumably “gone.”

“We could do a lot worse,” Trump told reporters, adding that the US military has hit the Islamic Republic “harder than virtually any country in history that’s been hit.”

In a phone interview with Axios, the US president said that the US-Israeli campaign against Iran would end “soon” since there was “practically nothing left to target.”

“Any time I want it to end, it will end,” Trump concluded.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has accused the EU of being actively complicit in “international lawlessness and heinous atrocity crimes” after the bloc imposed sanctions on 19 Iranian officials and entities over what it described as “serious human rights violations.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei stated that it “is as absurd as it is immoral” to punish Iran for exercising its inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. The diplomat also claimed that the EU is aiding and abetting the US and Israel.

The Iranian military managed to “blind enemy radars and defense systems” with the initial barrages of missiles and kamikaze drones, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf has claimed. He stated that Tehran can now “target any location it chooses with fewer missiles,” rendering Israel’s famed ‘Iron Dome’ air defense system an “irony.”

The Iranian drone attack that killed six US soldiers in Kuwait on February 28 also caused dozens of serious injuries including brain traumas and severed limbs, CBS News has reported. More than 30 service members remained in hospitals in the US and Germany as of Tuesday, with around 20 arriving at Landstuhl in Germany requiring “urgent” care, the outlet added. 

In an initial statement after the attack, the Pentagon claimed that five troops were seriously wounded while “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussion.”

“Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 140 US service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Tuesday. Parnell claimed that the “vast majority of these injuries have been minor,” with only eight troops “listed as severely injured.”

The US military is responsible for the deadly February 28 airstrike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, the New York Times has reported, citing the preliminary findings of an ongoing US military investigation.

According to the publication, US forces fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at an adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval facility, relying on outdated target coordinates.

All 32 member states of the International Energy Agency have unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their reserves to the global market in an effort to mitigate supply chain disruptions. Following the start of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, transit through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen sharply for most commercial carriers, with many ships avoiding the route due to heightened risk, though Iranian oil exports continue to flow through the chokepoint. With the Middle East playing an outsized role in global oil supply, these developments have sent crude prices skyrocketing.

“The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in scale,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.

Shell, a major liquefied natural gas ‌trader, has declared force majeure on LNG shipments from Qatar, Reuters has reported, citing anonymous sources. The Gulf nation, the world’s ​second-largest exporter of LNG, put production on hold last week amid Iranian retaliatory strikes in the region.

Fifty-two schools and five medical centers have been damaged in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s Lorestan Province to date, Tasnim news agency has reported, citing the governor.

The attacks have destroyed more than 2,500 residential and commercial units across ten of Lorestan’s counties. Thirteen sports centers and two Red Crescent rescue bases were also hit, the official said.

Kamikaze drones have hit fuel tanks at Oman’s Salalah Port, the Oman News Agency has said, with no casualties reported.

Iran is “not ready for a diplomatic solution,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul claimed during a visit to Israel. He cautioned against expecting the US-Israeli attacks to end any time soon.

The Iranian sports minister has indicated that the country will not participate in the FIFA World Cup, despite FIFA chief Gianni Infantino earlier saying Trump would “welcome” the team at this summer’s tournament, which is being co-hosted by the US.

“Two wars were forced upon us in eight or nine months, killing several thousand people. We therefore cannot participate under these conditions,” Ahmad Donyamali said in a televised interview. He added the decision reflects “malicious measures against Iran” and the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei by the “corrupt” US government.

The US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s resulting de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have driven a sharp surge in EU fuel prices, with 24 of the bloc’s 27 member states reporting notable increases over the past few days.

The Netherlands remains the most expensive, with petrol climbing 10-14 cents to about €2.19 per liter. Prices in Germany jumped toward €2 per liter, Denmark saw increases of 8–10 cents, and Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania recorded 6-10 cent rises over the past two weeks, straining local consumers finances.

US CENTCOM has released new footage purportedly showing its strikes on Iranian ballistic missile and drone facilities.

Iran’s Fars news agency has published footage purportedly showing a “congestion of ships and oil tankers” in the Strait of Hormuz due to its de-facto blockade by Tehran.

Spain has dismissed its ambassador to Israel, Ana Salomon, according to the Official State Gazette (BOE). The move formally withdraws the head of Spain’s mission in Tel Aviv and downgrades representation to chargé d’affaires level. It is a direct response to Israel’s earlier decision to withdraw its own ambassador from Madrid, mirroring the diplomatic snub.

Salomon was recalled for consultations last September and has remained in Spain since.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is “safe and sound” following reports he was injured in US-Israeli strikes, Yousef Pezeshkian, a government adviser and son of President Masoud Pezeshkian, has said.
“I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I asked friends with connections, and they told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,” Pezeshkian wrote on Instagram.

The New York Times earlier reported that Khamenei was wounded in the legs on the first day of the strikes, citing Israeli and Iranian officials, which may explain why he has not yet appeared in public or on video.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned the missile strike widely attributed to the US that hit a primary school in southern Iran on the first day of the conflict, killing 168 children.

“I express my firm condemnation of the massacre of girls at the school in Minab,” Meloni told the Italian Senate, calling for those responsible to be swiftly identified.

EU ambassadors have approved new sanctions against 19 Iranian officials and entities, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, announced on X, claiming they are “responsible for serious human rights violations.”

Brussels has sided with Washington during the escalation and has not condemned the US-Israeli strikes on Iran that have reportedly killed more than 1,300 people so far.

The US government has urged all Americans in Iraq to leave the country.

“US citizens in Iraq are strongly encouraged to review their personal security situation,” it said in a security alert, adding that for many, “departing Iraq as soon as safely possible is the best option.”

Those who remain were advised to stay vigilant, keep a low profile, and be prepared to shelter in place for extended periods. They were also warned against gathering in areas associated with the US or with other Americans, citing risks including kidnapping.

A vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz has come under attack, PressTV reports, with photos released online purportedly showing black smoke rising from the ship’s stern.

Iran is holding state funerals in Tehran for several senior military and political figures killed in the initial wave of US-Israeli airstrikes that began on February 28. Thousands of mourners have gathered around Enghelab Square for the main procession.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has ordered the release of strategic oil reserves to the domestic market in light of the major disruptions to global energy supplies caused by the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Takaichi told reporters the government will release 15 days’ worth of privately held reserves and one month’s worth of national stockpiles to stabilize fuel prices and prevent shortages that could cripple the economy.
She called the move an “extraordinary but necessary measure” to protect livelihoods during an “unprecedented geopolitical crisis.”

Japan holds among the world’s largest strategic reserves, covering about 145–150 days of consumption, but remains heavily reliant on the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 90% of its crude oil imports pass from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, its primary suppliers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for an end to the hostilities.

“As Türkiye, we are not a country that remains indifferent to the crises around us, or that turns its back on its friends and brothers in times of crisis,” he said at a Grand National Assembly group meeting in Ankara. “This war must be stopped before it escalates and completely engulfs the region in flames.”

He warned that the conflict would bring further loss of life, property damage, and global economic harm, adding that peace is possible “if diplomacy is given a chance” and pledging continued efforts to revive negotiations.

Media reports say explosions occurred in Dubai, though details are unclear.

Earlier, Dubai’s media office reported two drones had fallen near Dubai International Airport (DXB), injuring four people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, and expressed gratitude for his assistance in evacuating Russian citizens from Iran, the Kremlin has said. The two leaders called for a rapid end to the hostilities in the Middle East and called for political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

Fars News Agency has released a video showing an alleged one-ton unexploded US bomb being removed from a residential building in Kuhdasht, Iran.

Iran has threatened to strike US- and Israeli-linked banks in the Middle East.

“Following their failed campaign, the terrorist US army and cruel Zionist [Israel] regime have targeted one of our country’s banks,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the Khatam ol Anbia joint command, has stated, as cited by state media. “With this illegitimate and unconventional action, the enemy is forcing our hand to target economic centers and banks linked to the US and Zionist regime in the region.”

He urged residents across the region to avoid areas within a one-kilometer radius of banks.

The warning followed an overnight missile strike on an administrative building of the state-owned Bank Sepah in Tehran, Iran’s oldest financial institution, which handles payroll for the military and the IRGC.

Iran has urged residents across the Middle East to report the locations of US and Israeli forces to help target strikes more precisely and avoid civilian casualties, DefaPress has reported, citing Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi.

“I call on the Muslim people of the region and the countries of the region to show us the hideouts of US and Zionist [Israeli] forces so that they themselves will not be harmed, and so that we can more precisely strike those who use people from the countries of the region as human shields,” Shekarchi said.

Qatar says it has intercepted a missile attack from Iran.

“The security threat has been eliminated, and the situation has returned to normal,” the Defense Ministry said, adding that the strike followed an ‘elevated’ security alert issued minutes earlier.

Some 780,000 people have been registered as displaced in Lebanon amid Israeli strikes, Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs reported, including about 120,000 in government-run shelters.

The Health Ministry earlier said at least 570 people, including 84 children, have been killed so far, with the latest victims being seven civilians in the town of al-Shahabiya in the southern part of the country.

The deadly strike on a girls’ school in Minab in southern Iran on February 28 that killed over 160 people, most of them children, was likely carried out by US-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, former Pentagon senior security policy analyst Michael Maloof has said. In an interview with RT, Maloof said it was “very clear” the missiles came from the US and described reports of a “double tap” strike in which a second missile allegedly hit after survivors began evacuating, calling the incident “a very terrible thing.” 

US President Donald Trump had earlier suggested Iran itself could have carried out the strike using a Tomahawk – a weapon system Maloof said is operated only by a small group of close US allies in the current conflict.

NATO has deployed a Patriot missile defense system to Malatya, Türkiye amid rising regional tensions, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on X.

Ankara said the system is being readied to protect Turkish airspace in coordination with NATO allies. The deployment followed an incident in which a missile entered Turkish airspace and was intercepted by NATO air and missile defense systems over the eastern Mediterranean.

A container vessel has been damaged by an unidentified projectile 25 nautical miles northwest of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reports. All crew members are safe, and a damage assessment is ongoing. The UKMTO urged vessels to transit the area with caution while the authorities investigate.

A ceremony to honor Iranian military commanders killed in the initial US-Israeli strikes is scheduled for Wednesday in Enghelab Square, central Tehran, Hamedi says.

RT’s Tehran bureau chief, Hami Hamedi, reporting from Tehran, says over 1,300 civilians have been killed and 9,700 civilian structures damaged or destroyed by US-Israeli strikes in the 12 days of the conflict.

Despite heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures, bombings continued across eastern, western, and southern Tehran late Tuesday. In the east, a strike hit a traffic police building, damaging a highway and nearby buildings. In northern Tehran near Vank Square, another traffic police office was completely destroyed.

RT has captured the aftermath of Iranian retaliatory missile strikes in Tel Aviv.

Trump has given assurances that Iran is “welcome” to compete in this summer’s World Cup, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino said.

Infantino wrote on social media that he met with Trump to discuss Iran’s participation, which had been in doubt amid US-Israeli strikes and Tehran’s retaliatory actions. “President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino claimed.

Trump has not publicly commented, though he previously said he “really didn’t care” if Iran played in the football showpiece, which will be jointly hosted this summer by the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Iran’s Press TV has aired footage it says shows damage in Tel Aviv from Iranian retaliatory missile strikes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that “black rain” and toxic air in Tehran following US-Israeli strikes on oil facilities could trigger respiratory problems and supported Iran’s advice to stay indoors.

“The black rain and acidic fallout pose a real danger to the population, mainly respiratory,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said in Geneva.

He added that the strikes have released massive amounts of toxic hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen compounds. Exposure – through inhalation or contact – can cause headaches, skin and eye irritation, and breathing difficulties, with long-term exposure raising certain cancer risks.

A Washington Post report, citing the Anti-Defamation League, earlier said US-Israeli strikes on Iran have fueled a surge in anti-Semitic content online.

Social media users have rebranded Operation Epic Fury as “Operation Epstein Fury,” a phrase which reportedly appeared over 90,000 times across 60,000 accounts in the first three days of the conflict.

Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen and other outlets across the Middle East have published a photo of an Iranian missile reportedly intended for retaliatory strikes against US-Israeli forces, inscribed with: “In memory of the victims of Epstein’s Island.”

The notorious convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, was Jewish.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, Ali Larijani, has warned on X that the Strait of Hormuz “will be either a strait of peace and prosperity or a strait of defeat and suffering for warmongers.”

A senior Iranian military official earlier told Al Mayadeen that Tehran will not allow “a single liter of oil” to reach the US or its allies for as long as their forces continue attacking Iranian people and infrastructure.

Iran is setting strict conditions and demanding “real guarantees” from the US before resuming negotiations, Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen news channel reports, citing sources.

According to the report, Tehran has rejected recent ceasefire initiatives proposed by mediators including Russia, China, and France, calling them insufficient without concrete commitments from Washington. Iran has reportedly outlined three key conditions for talks: A formal US pledge not to launch future military attacks, recognition of Iran’s right to a full nuclear fuel cycle at its energy facilities, and financial compensation for damage sustained during the conflict.

Israeli forces have struck an apartment building in the Aisha Bakkar area of central Beirut, causing a fire and heavy damage to several floors, RT correspondent Ali Rida reports. It remains unclear whether there are any casualties.

Rida said the area is a civilian residential neighborhood with no known Hezbollah links or military installations.

The IDF earlier announced a new wave of strikes on Beirut, saying they would target Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern suburb of Dahieh.

RT has obtained information that regional talks are underway on the temporary evacuation of US bases in the Middle East to avoid Iranian retaliatory strikes.

The permanent withdrawal and closure of US bases in the region has been one of Tehran’s key objectives in the conflict, with Iranian officials also warning that they would not allow the facilities to be rebuilt.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has proposed releasing the largest volume of strategic oil reserves in its history in an effort to stabilize global energy markets, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. The planned release would exceed the 182 million barrels the agency coordinated in 2022, with a decision expected on Wednesday, pending approval from all 32 member countries.

The de-facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz effectively has halted approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day, or roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil consumption.

The move comes as oil prices have surged amid escalating tensions and military strikes in the Middle East, raising fears of supply disruptions from one of the world’s key oil-producing regions.

Brent crude was trading near $86.7 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) around $83, after volatile swings in recent sessions.

Boeing has reportedly signed a new $289 million contract with Israel to deliver as many as 5,000 air-launched smart bombs, according to Bloomberg and Reuters sources.

The deal covers Boeing’s Small Diameter Bomb, a guided munition that can be launched by Israeli jets at targets more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) away. The contract is reportedly unrelated to the ongoing US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, as deliveries are not scheduled to begin for another 36 months.

The new agreement comes amid a surge in US military support for Israel. Last week, Reuters reported that the Trump administration had bypassed Congress using an emergency authority to expedite the sale of more than 20,000 bombs to Israel, worth around $650 million. Earlier this year, the State Department approved over $6.5 billion in three separate contracts for potential military sales to Israel, including Boeing’s Apache helicopters. Last year, Boeing was awarded an $8.6 billion contract by the Pentagon to produce and deliver F-15 jets to Israel.

North Korea said it “respects” Iran’s decision to appoint Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a US-Israeli strike late last month. An unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson, quoted by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said Pyongyang respects “the right and choice of the Iranian people to elect their Supreme Leader.”

The spokesperson also condemned the US and Israel for launching an “unlawful military attack” against Iran, accusing them of undermining regional peace and violating the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Israeli forces carried out multiple deadly strikes across Lebanon overnight, reportedly killing at least six people, including a medical worker.

Just after midnight, two large Israeli airstrikes hit the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, which have come under repeated attack since hostilities escalated some 10 days ago. Hours later, a strike was also confirmed in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, alongside multiple attacks on towns and villages in southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, airstrikes in the Tyre district killed four civilians, including a paramedic, and wounded eight others. Two more people were killed in a strike on the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The Ministry of Health separately confirmed the death of a Lebanese Red Cross paramedic who succumbed to injuries sustained when his ambulance was struck by an Israeli airstrike yesterday. The ministry condemned the attack, noting the paramedics were traveling in clearly marked ambulances, according to Al Jazeera.

An Israeli drone strike hit a residential building in Beirut, with Israel claiming it was targeting Hezbollah fighters operating among civilians.

A new CCTV video purports to show what Press TV described as “Iranian missiles raining down on Israel” earlier tonight. The footage depicts a swarm of projectiles falling from the sky, but it is unclear whether they were debris or a cluster munition that Israel accuses Iran of deploying repeatedly during the conflict.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has reported that an unknown projectile struck a container vessel approximately 25 nautical miles northwest of Ras al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. All crew members are safe and accounted for, but the unnamed vessel sustained some damage, the agency added.

Footage shared by Press TV allegedly shows Israeli air defense systems attempting to intercept an incoming Iranian missile.

The IDF has detected another volley of missiles launched from Iran and instructed residents to seek shelter yet again – less than 30 minutes after the Home Front Command permitted Israelis to leave protected spaces in all areas of the country.

Democratic lawmakers say they fear President Donald Trump could deploy American troops to Iran, after classified briefings with administration officials left senators with what they described as significant unanswered questions about the war’s objectives and scope.

Speaking after a closed-door briefing with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Senator Richard Blumenthal said the administration appeared to be moving toward the possibility of sending US forces into Iran.

“We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran to accomplish any of the potential objectives,” Blumenthal told reporters, adding that he left the briefing “dissatisfied and angry.”

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen voiced similar concerns, warning that the administration’s briefings had raised additional questions rather than providing clarity.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims to have launched multiple Khorramshahr medium-range ballistic missiles during the 37th wave of its “True Promise 4” retaliatory strikes, which lasted over three hours.

The targets allegedly included an Israeli satellite communications center south of Tel Aviv and other military installations in Be’er Ya’akov, West Jerusalem, and Haifa, along with US bases in Erbil, Iraq, and the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

“Targeted and powerful attacks will continue until the set objectives are achieved,” the IRGC said. “In this battle, we think only of the complete surrender of the enemy.”

Press TV shared a video purportedly showing the latest launches, but there has been no immediate comment from US or Israeli officials about any damage or casualties.

Kuwait’s air defense systems have successfully intercepted and destroyed at least four hostile drones that breached the country’s airspace, while a fifth crashed outside the threat zone, according to defense ministry spokesman Colonel Staff Saud Abdulaziz al-Attwan.

“The Kuwaiti Armed Forces affirm that they are on full alert and readiness to deal with any threats and to confront anything that aims to undermine the country’s security, ensuring the preservation of its sovereignty, security, stability, and the protection of its national interests and capabilities,” the statement said, without specifying who launched the drones or what their intended targets were.

10 March 2026

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense announced that security forces are actively combating waves of missiles and drones launched toward the kingdom, successfully intercepting multiple aerial threats.

Two drones heading toward the Shaybah oilfield were reportedly detected and destroyed before reaching the facility. Later, security forces intercepted two additional drones in Hafar Al-Batin and six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base. All were destroyed with no casualties reported, according to officials.

The attacks come as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed earlier that it had been targeting radar systems at Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts US forces and has come under repeated attack.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud spoke by phone about “how to reinforce Saudi Arabia’s defense as Iran continues its baseless aggression against civilian targets,” the US State Department said.

Israel has urged the Iranian people to rise up against their government, calling itself their “best ally” and framing the ongoing military campaign as a “historic war for liberty.”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you to remove the Ayatollah regime and gain your freedom,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s office wrote in a post on X. “Together with the United States, we are hitting the Tyrants of Tehran harder than ever.”

The message claimed that Israeli forces are “doing our best not to harm the People of Iran,” even as the number of casualties has exceeded 1,300 people and the IDF launched yet another massive bombing raid on Tehran. The deadliest attack yet was a strike on a girls’ school in Minab in southern Iran that killed 168 children.

“We are your ally. Your best ally... You asked for help and help has arrived,” the statement continued. “In the coming days we will create the conditions for you to grasp your destiny... Be ready to seize the moment!”

The US dropped more than $5.6 billion worth of bombs and missiles on Iran in just the first two days of Operation Epic Fury, according to Pentagon estimates shared with Congress this week and reported by CBS News.

It is unclear if the number includes hundreds of interceptor missiles deployed to contain Iran’s retaliatory strikes. The full costs, including reported damage to US military installations in the region, are much higher and continue to grow as the war enters its 12th day.

The US Central Command claims to have eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, “including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz,” after President Trump vowed to deal with the threat “quickly and violently.”

“If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social earlier on Tuesday.

Israel will need a massive injection of funds to maintain its war effort against Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have announced in a joint address.

“The costly campaign requires a special budget with the addition of tens of billions of shekels for the war effort,” Netanyahu said, adding that the ongoing Operation Roaring Lion “costs money, a lot of money.”

Smotrich announced that in order to push forward more military funding, the government is setting aside contentious initiatives, such as the haredi ultra-Orthodox draft bill, and other reforms until a broader agreement can be reached.

According to Bloomberg, the defense budget supplement could reach nearly 40 billion shekels ($13 billion), roughly 2% of GDP. The funds are intended to replenish military inventories and cover the costs of reservists, with over 100,000 called up since late February.

Multiple explosions have been heard in the Iranian capital after the Israeli army announced a “massive” new wave of attacks, according to Al Jazeera.

Shortly after Israel launched the latest bombing raid on Tehran, the Israeli Home Front Command warned residents of retaliatory strikes and urged them to seek shelter in a “protected space and remain there until further notice.”

“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the IDF said.

The Pentagon has published a new video showing US forces striking multiple Iranian vessels and boats. “US forces are degrading the Iranian regime’s ability to project power at sea and harass international shipping,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.

The IDF has announced a new wave of strikes against unspecified targets in the Iranian capital.

Brent crude prices have jumped back to above $95 a barrel after briefly falling to a low of $82 during trading on Tuesday.

US forces have destroyed ten “inactive mine laying boats and/or ships,” in the last few hours, Trump claimed in a Truth Social post, without elaborating.

The claim that Iran was planning to preemptively attack the US or its regional forces “is a sheer and utter lie,” Iranian top diplomat Abbas Araghchi has said.

“The sole purpose of that lie is to justify Operation Epic Mistake, a misadventure engineered by Israel and paid for by ordinary Americans.”

The IRGC has announced new ballistic missile launches against targets in the region, according to the Fars news agency.

US officials are posting “fake news” on social media to manipulate the stock market, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said.

“Markets are facing biggest shortfall in HISTORY: bigger than Arab Oil Embargo, Iran's Islamic Revolution and the Kuwait invasion COMBINED,” he wrote on X.

Earlier, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright tweeted that the American Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, but quickly deleted the post. The White House later confirmed that no such escort took place.

Trump has demanded that Iran remove any naval mines it may have deployed in the Strait of Hormuz, while noting that the US is not aware of any reports to that effect.

“If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote on Truth Social, threatening potential military consequences “at a level never seen before.”

The Trump administration seems to be moving towards a ground operation in Iran, Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters after a congressional briefing.

“I am most concerned about the threat to American lives of potentially deploying our sons and daughters on the ground in Iran,” he said, adding that he was left with “more questions than answers” after the closed-doors briefing.

“So the American people deserve to know much more than this administration has told them about the cost of the war... a war of choice made by this president... with potentially huge consequences to American lives.”

The Russian consulate in the Iranian city of Isfahan has been damaged in the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

“Luckily, deaths and serious injuries were avoided,” she said, calling the attack a “flagrant violation” of diplomatic conventions.

“We demand that all parties strictly respect the inviolability of diplomatic facilities and refrain from infringing on the safety, life, and health of their personnel.”

The US military has confirmed that at least 140 soldiers have been wounded in the war with Iran, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in an email cited by AP.

“The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty,” he said, adding that eight soldiers remained “severely injured.”

Nearly 400 people, including 42 women and 83 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, an official from the country’s Ministry of Public Health has said.

The number of wounded has risen to 1,130, nearly half of whom are women and children, the official added.

France has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday over the fighting in Lebanon, after Israel escalated attacks on its northern neighbor.

“France expresses its deep concern over the current escalation of violence in Lebanon,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

It condemned what it called Hezbollah’s “irresponsible decision to join in Iran’s attacks on Israel,” and urged the militant group to disarm.

It has also called on Israel “to refrain from any land-based or long-term interventions in Lebanon, whose territorial integrity and sovereignty must be respected.”

Washington has asked Israel to stop carrying out strikes on Iranian energy facilities, especially the country’s oil infrastructure, Axios has reported, citing an Israeli official.

Tehran has reported that the attacks had caused a rain of toxic oil and soot in the capital Tehran, causing residents breathing difficulties.

According to Axios, the Trump administration told West Jerusalem that it did not want the Iranian public harmed by such strikes.

The strikes could also trigger a massive Iranian retaliation against energy infrastructure in Gulf states, it reportedly said. In addition, the White House explained that it does not want Iran’s oil sector damaged, as it wants to make money on it after the conflict, according to the outlet.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that the US Navy did not escort an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright had earlier tweeted the claim, but quickly deleted the post.

IRGC Navy chief Alireza Tangsiri has dismissed claims that a US military vessel has escorted a commercial ship through the Strait of Hormuz as “a complete lie.”

“Any passage of the US fleet and its allies will be halted by the net of Iranian missiles and suicide drones,” he said.

The US military has not escorted any ships through the key oil corridor, Reuters has reported, citing an American official.

As many as 150 US troops have so far been wounded in the conflict with Iran, Reuters has reported, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

Israel has taken out most of the central assets of Iran’s internal security forces and the IRGC’s Basij paramilitary militia in Ilam Province, the IDF has claimed.

The targets included the regional headquarters of the Islamic Republic’s internal security forces and its central intelligence unit, as well as several senior military officials, the IDF said in a statement.

No vessels associated with the US or Israel have “the right to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” the commander of the IRGC Navy, Alireza Tangsiri, has warned.

“If you have any doubt, come closer and test it,” he posted on X.

Iran’s Press TV broadcaster has published footage of an unexploded 2,000 pound bomb being removed from a residential building in Koohdasht, Iran.

No power in history has succeeded in destroying the 6,000-year-old civilization that Iran is heir to, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said.

“Anyone who entertains the illusion of destroying Iran knows nothing of history,” he wrote on X.

“Aggressors have come and gone; Iran has endured.”

Trump does not have an exit strategy for the Iran conflict, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly told reporters at the US Capitol, according to AP.

“Clearly they do not have a strategic goal,” he reportedly said. “They didn’t have a plan. They have no timeline. And because of that they have no exit strategy.”

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf has warned the US and Israel against attacking civilian infrastructure, threatening retaliation.

“No evil goes unanswered, we today decree the rule of ‘an eye for an eye’, without exception,” he wrote on X.

“If they start a war on infrastructure, we will undoubtedly target infrastructure.”

The US had spent $5.6 billion in munitions in the first two days of its attacks on Iran, the Pentagon has estimated in a report to Congress, according to CNN.

However, the enormous figure does not include other war-related expenses, AP has reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with the assessment.

The IRGC has claimed to have struck US and Israeli facilities across the Middle East in its latest drone and missile salvo.

The US naval base in Bahrain and an air base in the UAE were struck by a combined drone and missile attack, the corps said in a statement cited by the Fars news agency.

Israel’s Ramat David air base and “hidden missile launchers” east of Tel Aviv were also hit by missiles, the statement added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the US-Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic in the second phone call this week, the Kremlin has announced.

“The Russian President reaffirmed his principled position in favor of a swift de-escalation of the conflict and its resolution through political means,” the Kremlin said. Pezeshkian thanked Moscow for its support, especially regarding deliveries of humanitarian aid to Iran, the statement said.

Medical personnel have been dispatched to Beit Shemesh following reports of an Iranian ballistic missile strike, Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom has said.

US and Israeli strikes have to date damaged nearly 20,000 civilian buildings across Iran, the Islamic Republic’s Red Crescent Society has said.

This includes 16,191 residential units, 3,384 commercial units, 77 pharmaceutical and medical centers, and at least 69 schools, the organization’s chief Pir-Hossein Koulivand has said in a statement cited by PressTV.

Israel has “unlawfully” used white phosphorous munitions in its strikes on southern Lebanon, Human Rights Watch has claimed.

“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” the watchdog’s Lebanon researcher Ramzi Kaiss has said. “The incendiary effects of white phosphorus can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.”

The humanitarian situation in Lebanon has deteriorated since the escalation of Israeli attacks on the country earlier this month, the UN Refugee Agency’s representative in Lebanon, Karolina Billing, has said.

Around 100,000 Lebanese civilians have been displaced internally following Israeli evacuation orders in southern Beirut, and the 500 collective centers opened for them have been struggling to cope, she added.

“The humanitarian needs are really immense at the moment and they’re really growing by the minute,” Billings noted.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has vowed to further escalate attacks on the Islamic Republic.

“Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran,” he said at a Pentagon briefing. “The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence.”

General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has claimed that American forces had destroyed 50 Iranian naval ships, some of which had been laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

UAE air defenses have destroyed eight ballistic missiles and 26 drones, the Defense Ministry has said, adding that nine drones fell on the country’s territory.

It added that since the start of the escalation, six people have been killed and 122 injured in Iranian strikes.

Russia is the “only winner” in the Middle East conflict, European Council President Antonio Costa has said, arguing that Moscow “gains new resources to finance its war against Ukraine as energy prices rise” and “profits from the diversion of military capabilities that could otherwise have been sent to support Ukraine.”

Iranian intelligence has claimed that Tehran destroyed half of the US and Israeli air defense radars, adding, as cited by Fars, that this “led the Americans to move defense equipment from East Asia to the region.” 

It also suggested that the US and Israel had spent up to 75% of their ammunition due to continuous Iranian strikes, with new shipments still in transit.

Denmark’s Supreme Court has opened a hearing on a lawsuit filed by humanitarian organizations demanding a halt in arms exports to Israel.

The lawsuit, which was dismissed by a lower court last year, claims that Denmark is violating international law by selling Israel parts for F-35 fighter jets amid allegations that the Jewish state has orchestrated a “genocide” in Gaza.

Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security official, has dismissed Trump’s threats of new strikes as “empty.” “Even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Be careful not to be eliminated!” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Trump has told Fox News that he could be willing to hold talks with Iran. At the same time, he reiterated his criticism of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, saying, “I don’t believe he can live in peace.”

The RT bureau in Tehran has reported multiple explosions in the eastern part of the city, as well as the sound of a jet buzzing overhead. Footage from the scene shows two plumes of smoke rising over the Iranian capital.

The New York Times has compared public support for US foreign military interventions at the initial stages of the conflict since World War II, with the Iran war being at the very bottom at 41%.

The analysis omits polling from early in the Vietnam War, but Statista figures suggest that in 1965, 59% of Americans thought that the US putting boots on the ground was “not a mistake.”

More than 80,000 Syrians have crossed from Lebanon into Syria since the start of the Middle East conflict, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the country, Celine Schmitt, has told SANA news agency.

Iranian media outlets have shared footage of missile strikes targeting the US Al Harir base in Iraq. The IRGC earlier said the attack involved five missiles.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has blasted EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who stated that the Iranian people “deserve freedom [and] dignity… even if we know this will be fraught with danger and instability during and after the war.”

“Please spare the hypocrisy,” Baghaei said, accusing her of making her career on “standing on the wrong side of history – green-lighting occupation, genocide, and atrocities.” 

According to the spokesman, von der Leyen is “laundering US/Israeli crime of aggression and war crimes against Iranians.” 

“Where was your voice when more than 165 innocent IRANIAN little angels were massacred in the city of Minab?” he said.

Senior EU officials have been conspicuously silent on the strike on a girls’ school, which US media outlets suggest was hit by a US Tomahawk missile.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has reiterated that Moscow is ready to provide assistance in settling the Middle East conflict.

He added that even before the current escalation, President Vladimir Putin had proposed “various variants of our mediation and our services that could have contributed to defusing tensions.”

Some of Trump’s aides are urging him to prepare an “Iran exit ramp” to stop the hostilities that have sent ripples through the oil markets and carry the risk of a major domestic political backlash, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing sources.

Gulf oil giants are cutting production as the Strait of Hormuz remains de facto closed, Bloomberg has reported, citing sources. Previous media reports suggested that fuel storages in the region are filling fast while the options for transportation grow thin.

Sources told Bloomberg that Saudi Arabia had lowered output by 2 million to 2.5 million barrels a day, while the UAE reduced production by 500,000 to 800,000 barrels a day. Kuwait is said to have cut its output by about half a million barrels a day, and Iraq by about 2.9 million a day.

RT’s Steve Sweeney is reporting from the Lebanese village of Bir al Garbieh, where locals are preparing to bury 17 people killed in Israeli strikes.

“Even in death, there is no respite, fighter jets and drones overhead. There is an outpouring of grief, naturally, but there is also a sense of anger and defiance,” he said.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 486 people and injured 1,313 since the start of the conflict, the Lebanese Health Ministry has said.

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter and fourth-largest company, has sounded the alarm over potential “catastrophic consequences” caused by disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. 

The Pentagon spent $5.6 billion worth of munitions during the first two days of the war with Iran, the Washington Post reports, citing sources, adding that the figures underscore concerns of the conflict chipping away at combat readiness.

The previous large-scale US military involvement in the Middle East – the invasion of Iraq in 2003 – cost an estimated $3 trillion.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held a phone call on Monday, following reports of an Iranian missile falling in Türkiye. According to Tehran’s readout of the call, Pezeshkian said the reports are aimed at “creating discord” between Iran and the “friendly and brotherly country of Türkiye.” 

“Iran has always declared its readiness to reduce tension in the region, provided that the airspace, land, and waters of our neighbors are not used to attack the people of Iran,” the statement read.

The Turkish readout of the call stated that Erdogan does not approve of “unlawful interventions” against Iran or “Iran’s targeting of the brotherly countries in the region,” adding that the strikes benefit no one.

Israeli hospitals have taken a total of 2,339 injured people since the start of the conflict, the Health Ministry has said, adding that 95 are now undergoing treatment.

Trump has not ruled out the prospect of the US seizing Iranian oil. Speaking to NBC News, the US president declined to answer a question on the matter, but noted that “certainly people have talked about it.”

The Iranian Red Crescent has released a video of first responders extricating victims of the strike on Resalat Square in Tehran.

US-Israeli strikes have damaged another Iranian school in Khomein, central Iran, Fars reports, adding that several surrounding residential buildings were also affected. The outlet did not report any casualties.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told PBS News that talks with the US on settling the conflict may be off the table. He also suggested that disruptions in the oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz are not Iran’s fault.

“The transportation of oil has been slowed down or stopped not because of us, because of the attacks and aggression made by Israelis and Americans against us,” he said. “They have made the whole region insecure.”

Fars news agency has released a clip purporting to show first responders pulling a dead one-year-old girl from the rubble in Tehran.

A US-Israeli attack has hit residential blocks in Resalat Square in Tehran, killing at least 40 people, Tasnim and Al Jazeera have reported. According to Tasnim, Iranian rescue forces are continuing to search the area.