US President Donald Trump calls for international naval support to protect the vital oil shipping lane as conflict with Iran escalates across the Middle East.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has called on nations to help secure the vital Strait of Hormuz, a shipping lane choked off by an ongoing war with Iran that escalated with new strikes across the Middle East. The conflict has sent oil prices surging 40% and disrupted global events, including the cancellation of two Formula One races.
Trump urged other countries to send warships in conjunction with the United States to keep the strait “open and safe”. He named China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain as nations that would “hopefully” be among them.
The president later stated that although the United States had “beaten” Iran, countries dependent on the strait for oil “must take care of that passage, and we will help”. His appeal came as the US embassy in Baghdad was struck by a drone for the second time during the conflict.
Security sources confirmed the attack to AFP. US officials in Baghdad subsequently urged American citizens to “leave now” and warned them not to approach the embassy or the consulate in Erbil.
Clouds of black smoke were seen over Fujairah, home to a major Emirati oil storage and export terminal. The sighting came shortly after Iran’s military warned UAE civilians to avoid port areas.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they launched missiles at US forces stationed at the Al-Kharj base in Saudi Arabia late on Saturday. Saudi Arabia, a close US ally, said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles headed toward the base earlier.
The kingdom has repeatedly been targeted by Iran but has not deployed its military against the Islamic republic. In Kuwait, a separate drone strike damaged the international airport’s radar system without causing injuries.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said the war was entering a “decisive phase,” though he cautioned it would “continue as long as necessary”. AFP journalists heard blasts over Jerusalem after the military detected missiles launched from Iran.
Tehran later confirmed firing another salvo. Qatar also evacuated parts of downtown Doha and intercepted two missiles, with blasts heard by AFP journalists.
Iran continued to face heavy bombardment, with local media reporting strikes in several provinces. One strike on an industrial site in Isfahan reportedly killed 15 people, according to the Fars news agency.
Iran’s health ministry says more than 1,200 people have been killed by US and Israeli strikes. The UN refugee agency says up to 3.2 million have been displaced within the country.
The Pentagon states that more than 15,000 targets in Iran have been hit. A report this week said the first six days alone cost Washington US$11.3 billion, while 13 US military personnel have died.
US media reported that the Pentagon has dispatched the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and around 2,500 Marines to the region. In Iran, leaders appeared intent on projecting stability despite the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the war’s opening day.
His son Mojtaba Khamenei was named the new supreme leader but has not appeared in public and is reportedly wounded. Iran said Saturday that “there is no problem with the new supreme leader.”
The war has also sparked another devastating round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Tehran-backed militant group attacked Israel 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 826 people, according to Lebanese authorities.
It has also issued evacuation orders covering hundreds of square kilometres of Lebanon. The orders have displaced hundreds of thousands of people and prompted warnings of a humanitarian disaster.
Hezbollah said it was engaged in “direct clashes” with Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam late on Saturday. A Lebanese official told AFP the country was forming a delegation to negotiate with Israel but no agenda, timing or location had yet been decided.
The Sun Malaysia
