War escalates as US strikes Iran’s energy lifeline

• US bombs Kharg Island, key to 90pc of oil exports • Tehran warns it will target any facility in region linked to US • Trump says warships from several countries to guard Hormuz • US embassy in Baghdad urges Americans to leave Iraq • Iran Guards say targeted US forces at Saudi base with missiles • Iranian military claims US aircraft carrier ‘neutralised’ DUBAI: After the United States on Saturday bombed Iran’s main energy hub and President Donald Trump predicted “many countries” would send warships, Tehran threatened to escalate the war raging in the Middle East by targeting any facility in the region with US ties. As the conflict entered its third week, Iran projected defiance after US forces hit military sites at Kharg Island, which handles 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports. A drone attack had already disrupted a United Arab Emirates energy hub and the US embassy in Baghdad warned US citizens to leave Iraq. Since Israel and the United States began attacking Iran on Feb 28, the war has killed more than 2,000 people and created the biggest-ever oil supply disruption, pushing up global prices.

At least 15 people were killed when an air strike hit a refrigerator and heater factory in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Saturday. Some oil-loading operations have been suspended in the UAE’s Fujairah emirate, a global ship-refuelling hub, industry and trade sources said on Saturday, with TV footage showing plumes of dark smoke rising into the air.

Iran’s foreign minister appealed to Gulf neighbours and other Middle East nations to “expel foreign aggressors” as tit-for-tat attacks reverberate throughout the region, Al Jazeera reports. An Iranian military spokesperson called on people in the UAE to evacuate ports, docks and “American hideouts”, saying US forces had targeted Iranian islands from those areas. Separately, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country was continuing to run as normal despite the war, due to the diligent efforts of “our colleagues in the government” to maintain services, Al Jazeera reports. Trump opposes efforts to launch ceasefire talks Meanwhile, the Trump administration rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war, Reuters reported citing three sources familiar with the efforts. Oman, which mediated talks before the war, has tried multiple times to open a line of communication, but the White House has made clear it is not interested, according to two sources. A senior White House official confirmed Trump has rebuffed those efforts to start talks and is focused on pressing ahead with the war to further weaken Tehran’s military capabilities. Separately, Trump said many countries would send warships to allow shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for 20pc of the world’s oil. He did not provide details on which would do so, but in his Truth Social post, he said he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would send vessels. “Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump wrote. “In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water,” he wrote. IRGC’s naval commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri has said that the Strait of Hormuz has “not yet been militarily closed” and merely remains under Tehran’s control. He has also taken jabs at Trump, writing on X, “Americans falsely claimed the destruction of Iran’s navy, then they falsely claimed the escorting of oil tankers, now they’re even asking others for backup forces.” Trump has threatened to strike the oil infrastructure of Kharg Island unless Tehran stops attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. He said on Friday the US had “totally obliterated” military targets there. US Central Command later said it hit more than 90 sites on Kharg, including naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military targets. Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed speculation from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that Khamenei was wounded and likely disfigured. “There is no problem with the new supreme leader. He sent his message yesterday, and he will perform his duties,” Araghchi told MS Now. ‘Kharg island strikes came via UAE’ Iran played down the extent of the damage on Kharg Island while threatening to step up its use of more powerful weapons and warning that parts of the UAE were legitimate targets. “We declare to the leaders of the UAE that Iran considers it a legitimate right to defend its national sovereignty and territory by targeting the origin of American enemy missile launches in the shipping ports, docks and military shelters of the US hidden in some cities of the UAE,” a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said. Araghchi said Iran would respond to any attack on its energy facilities and warned it would target US companies in the region or companies in which the US had shares. The UAE’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to the Iranian accusation that the attack on Kharg Island came through the UAE. Nine ballistic missiles and 33 drones were launched from Iran towards the UAE on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence said. Iran warned residents to leave areas near Jebel Ali port in Dubai, Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s Fujairah port and said it was targeting branches of US banks in the Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said late on Saturday they had launched a missile salvo at US forces stationed at a major base in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Kharj. The Guards said the base was being used to equip “F-35 and F-16 fighter jets and is the storage place for fuel tankers”. While there has been no immediate confirmation of the attack from Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s defence ministry said earlier it intercepted six ballistic missiles headed towards Al-Kharj. The Kuwaiti military said that nine hostile drones were fired at the country, with two causing damage to a military site. Jordan’s military said it has intercepted 79 missiles and drones launched by Iran at the kingdom during the second week of the Middle East war, according to AFP. Iran also launched a new wave of missiles towards Israel, AFP reported, citing Iranian state TV. The Israeli military also claimed that it had killed two senior Iranian intelligence officials in a strike in Tehran, just days after they replaced the former head of the directorate who was assassinated on Feb 28. Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff said that US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln had left the operational area in the region after being “neutralised” by Iranian forces, Anadolu Agency reported. Israel ‘dragging region into instability’ Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the United States and Iran must return to negotiations to prevent the regional war from escalating further. Speaking in Ankara, Fidan warned that the conflict risks spreading across the region. “The war must end as soon as possible. We are concerned about the spread of the war.” “Israel is dragging the region into new instability. As long as the attacks continue in the region, it will turn into an inescapable spiral. Turkiye will resist all kinds of provocations,” he said. Fidan said Turkish air defences intercepted a missile fired towards the country and confirmed Ankara remains in contact with Iranian officials. He said Iran had denied responsibility for missiles fired towards Turkiye, adding that Ankara was discussing contradictions between Tehran’s statements and available technical data on the launches. Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2026