Israel declares the Iran conflict is reaching a decisive stage amid escalating regional strikes, including attacks on a US embassy and a major UAE oil terminal.

JERUSALEM: Israel said the war against Iran was entering its “decisive phase” on Saturday as explosions rocked cities across the Middle East.

Strikes targeted the US embassy in Baghdad and a major Emirati energy facility, with clouds of black smoke rising over Fujairah’s oil terminal.

Washington’s embassy in Iraq was hit by a drone, security sources told AFP, the second such attack since the US and Israel struck Iran on February 28.

The conflict has plunged the Gulf into turmoil, sending shockwaves through the global economy and displacing millions.

Oil prices have surged by 40% as Iran chokes off the vital Strait of Hormuz with threats to shipping and strikes on Gulf energy facilities.

Iran’s military had warned UAE civilians to avoid port areas shortly before the Fujairah incident.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that US forces had struck Iran’s Kharg Island, its biggest oil export hub.

Trump said the US had “obliterated every military target”, though sparing its energy facilities, a claim confirmed by Iranian media.

Iran had previously threatened US-linked oil and energy firms would be “turned into a pile of ashes” if they were hit.

Analyst Vali Nasr of John Hopkins University said the strike could be a “turning point” with both sides escalating to force a surrender.

“The end will likely not be Iranian backing off but inflaming the Gulf,” Nasr said in a social media post.

Trump said the US Navy would start escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “very soon”, amid global fears of a prolonged economic blow.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strikes on Kharg showed the war was entering a “decisive phase”.

Katz cautioned the conflict would “continue as long as necessary”, despite facing superior US and Israeli firepower.

Blasts were heard over Jerusalem on Saturday after the army detected missiles fired from Iran.

Iran has launched missile and drone attacks against at least 10 of its neighbours.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas urged Iran to refrain from targeting Gulf neighbours, many of which have supported its cause.

It was a rare breach between the allies, though Hamas affirmed Tehran’s right to defend itself.

Qatar said it intercepted two missiles over the capital’s downtown area on Saturday and evacuated key areas.

Strikes continue in Iran, with heavy blasts shaking Tehran late Friday and local media reporting strikes in several provinces through Saturday.

Israel’s army warned people in an industrial zone of Tabriz in northern Iran to evacuate, signalling an imminent attack.

Iran’s health ministry says more than 1,200 people have been killed by US and Israeli attacks, numbers that could not be independently verified.

Up to 3.2 million people have been displaced inside Iran, according to the UN refugee agency.

Trump described Iran as “totally defeated” and in search of a deal he was unwilling to consider.

The Pentagon said more than 15,000 targets in Iran have been hit by the US and Israel in two weeks.

A report this week said the first six days alone cost the US USD 11.3 billion, with 13 military personnel lost.

US media raised the possibility of a ground invasion, reporting the Pentagon had dispatched the Japan-based amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli to the region.

The ship carries some 2,500 Marines, according to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Iran’s rulers appear intent on showing they will survive the war and maintain control, despite their supreme leader Ali Khamenei being killed on day one.

Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei was named the new supreme leader, but has been absent from public view and is reportedly wounded.

Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s last shah, said on social media Saturday that he was ready to lead a transition “as soon as the Islamic Republic falls”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have threatened a heavy crackdown on any anti-government protests.

Thousands were killed in mass demonstrations in January, and a near-total internet blackout has been imposed since the war began.

Beyond the Gulf, Turkey said NATO forces shot down a ballistic missile launched from Iran, the third such interception in the war.

Lebanon has also been drawn in, with the Iran-backed Hezbollah attacking Israel from Lebanon after Khamenei’s death.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has called the current conflict an “existential battle”.

Israel has responded with air and ground assaults, killing at least 773 people according to the Lebanese authorities.

Evacuation orders have displaced hundreds of thousands in Lebanon.

An overnight strike in southern Lebanon killed a dozen health workers at a clinic.

Lebanese health authorities say Israel has killed 26 paramedics since March 2.

 The Sun Malaysia