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In a bold display of military might, Iran launched additional missile attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries Thursday, highlighting its ongoing capacity to strike despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertions that the threat from Tehran was nearly neutralized and that the conflict would soon conclude.
The repercussions of Iran’s aggressive actions, including its control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, have significantly disrupted global energy supplies, with impacts felt far beyond the Middle Eastern region. This strategic leverage has become Iran’s most substantial advantage in the ongoing war. In response, the United Kingdom has initiated plans to convene a meeting with representatives from nearly three dozen nations to discuss strategies for reopening the strait, a critical passage through which 20% of the world’s traded oil flows during peacetime, after the cessation of hostilities.
While Trump has expressed confidence that reopening the strait could be achieved through force, he clarified that the responsibility does not lie with the United States alone. In a national address delivered Wednesday night, he urged nations reliant on the oil transiting through Hormuz to muster the necessary resolve and “take it.”
Iran continues to strike Israel and Gulf countries
Iran’s reaction to Trump’s remarks was defiantly unwavering. The U.S. President had claimed that American military actions had rendered one of the world’s most formidable nations “really no longer a threat.”
However, Iran’s military spokesperson, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, countered these claims on Thursday. He asserted that Iran continues to possess undisclosed reserves of weaponry, ammunition, and production facilities. “The sites you believe you have targeted are insignificant, and our critical military production occurs at locations unknown to you and beyond your reach,” Zolfaghari declared.
Just before Trump began his address — in which he said U.S. “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” — explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.
Less than a half-hour after the president was done, Israel said its military was also working to intercept incoming missiles. Sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, immediately after the speech.
Attacks continued across Iran on Thursday, with strikes reported in multiple cities.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
More than 1,200 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon, home to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants who are fighting Israel, which has launched a ground invasion. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
Nearly three dozen nations will talk about securing the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian attacks on some two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
The 35 countries speaking Thursday, including all G7 industrialized democracies except the U.S., as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the countries will discuss “viable diplomatic and political measures” to resume shipping.
But no country appears willing to try to open the strait by force while the war is raging. There is a concern that Iran might limit traffic through the strait even after U.S. and Israeli attacks on it cease.
The idea of an international effort has echoes of the “coalition of the willing,” led by the U.K. and France, that was assembled to underpin Ukraine’s security in the event of a ceasefire in that war. The coalition is, in part, an attempt to demonstrate to Washington that Europe is doing more for its own security in the face of frequent criticism from Trump.
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan for a ceasefire, but Trump didn’t say anything in his speech about the diplomatic efforts or bring up his April 6 deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face severe retaliation.
Oil prices rise again even as Trump suggests the war could end soon
The conflict is driving up prices for oil and natural gas, roiling stock markets, pushing up the cost of gasoline and threatening to make a range of goods, including food, more expensive.
On Thursday, Brent crude, the international standard, rose again and was at $108 in spot trading, up about 50% from Feb. 28 when Israel and the U.S. started the war.
Though the oil and gas that typically transits the strait is primarily sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region joining Thursday’s call about the strait. The supply of jet fuel has also been interrupted by the conflict, with consequences for travel worldwide.