Dubai: Iran launched new attacks Tuesday at Gulf Arab countries as it kept up pressure on the Middle East in a war that has sent oil prices surging and stunned global economies. Five pro-Iranian militiamen were killed in an airstrike in northern Iraq.
Incoming missile sirens sounded early in the morning in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and in Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two drones over its oil-rich eastern region, and Kuwait’s National Guard said it had shot down six drones.
In addition to firing missiles and drones at Israel and at American bases in the region, Iran has also been targeting energy infrastructure, which, combined with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, has sent oil prices soaring.
Brent crude, the international standard, spiked to nearly USD 120 Monday before falling back, but was still at around USD 90 a barrel Tuesday, nearly 24 per cent higher than when the war started Feb. 28.
US President Donald Trump, who has previously said that the war could last for a month or longer, Tuesday sought to downplay growing fears that it could be a long-term regional conflict, saying it was “going to be a short-term excursion.”
Trump sends contradictory messages, and Tehran says it’s prepared for a long war
The war has choked off major supplies of oil and gas to world markets and sent fuel prices rising across the US. The fighting has also led foreigners to flee from business hubs and prompted millions to seek shelter as bombs hit military bases, government buildings, oil and water installations, hotels and at least one school.
Iran has effectively stopped tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman – the gateway to the Indian Ocean – through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil is carried. Attacks on merchant ships near the strait have killed at least seven sailors, according to the International Maritime Organisation.
In a post on social media Tuesday, Trump seemed not to acknowledge that, saying that “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”
In an apparent response to Trump’s remarks published in Iranian state media, a spokesperson for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naini, said: “Iran will determine when the war ends.”
Kamal Kharazi, foreign policy adviser to the office of the supreme leader, told CNN Monday that Iran is prepared for a long war. He said he sees no “room for diplomacy anymore” unless economic pressure prompts other countries to intervene and stop the “aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran.”
Airstrike on Iran-linked militia in Iraq kills 5
As the conflict has spread across the region, Israel has launched multiple attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group responding and firing missiles into Israel.
Pro-Iran militias in Iraq have also launched attacks on US bases in the country since the beginning of the conflict.
Early Tuesday, one of those militias, the 40th Brigade of the Popular Mobilisation Forces in the city of Kirkuk, was hit with an airstrike that killed at least five militiamen and wounded four others, according to officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to reporters.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the strikes.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Tuesday it completed a series of strikes targeting Hezbollah’s financial arm, al-Qard Al-Hasan. Israel, which says Hezbollah uses al-Qard al-Hasan to finance its military activities, also targeted several of the group’s branches in southern and eastern Lebanon last week.
Israel’s military also reiterated a call for all residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes, saying it planned to “operate forcefully” there against Hezbollah.
Since the war began, at least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to officials.
A total of seven US service members have been killed.
Financial markets, which swung wildly in recent days, opened Tuesday in Asia with early gains, building on late optimism in the US.
As it faced headwinds from the conflict, Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco reported 2025 profits of USD 104 billion, down from USD 110 billion in 2024.
Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said its 2025 revenues were USD 445 billion, down from USD 480 billion in 2024.
