Live Updates En español: guerra con Irán
Oil prices surge as Iran warns the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed
• Aircraft lost: An American refueling plane went down in Iraq, according to the US military, which said the aircraft was not hit by hostile or friendly fire. It’s not clear if service members were hurt or killed.
• First purported message: A message attributed to new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was read on Iranian state media. His purported statement called for the Strait of Hormuz to remain closed as a “tool of pressure,” as the global oil market faces historic levels of disruption.
• Oil shock: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to set the region’s oil and gas infrastructure “on fire” if Iranian energy sites are attacked.
• Soldier dies: A French soldier was killed and several others were wounded in an attack in Iraqi Kurdistan. A drone attack had targeted a base hosting Kurdish forces and international coalition troops in northern Iraq.
A missile strike has wounded dozens of people and damaged buildings in northern Israel early Friday, authorities said, as Iran announced a fresh wave of missiles launched toward Israeli territory.
Fire crews were responding to a “direct hit by a missile on a structure” in the Arab town of Zarzir, in northern Israel, that damaged several houses and caused a fire that was later extinguished, Israel Fire and Rescue said.
Israel’s emergency response service said paramedics treated 58 people, most with mild injuries.
Among the wounded is a 34-year-old woman in moderate condition who sustained a shrapnel wound to the back, and a 17-year-old girl injured by broken glass, Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom said, adding they were transferred to hospital.
Photos and video from Israel Fire and Rescue show a badly damaged building, a mangled car, and debris strewn in the street.
The incident came after sirens sounded in northern Israel and the Israeli military said it had detected missiles fired from Iran.
Earlier, Iran said it was firing another wave of missiles toward Israel and that Hezbollah had launched a simultaneous attack from southern Lebanon, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
Both Iran and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants based in Lebanon have fired projectiles at Israel in recent days.
This post has been updated with new information about the number of people wounded.
Video geolocated by CNN shows a thick plume of smoke rising over skyscrapers in Dubai’s central finance district following reports of an explosion being heard on Friday morning local time.
Dubai Media Office said “debris from a successful interception caused a minor incident on the façade of a building in central Dubai,” in a post on X shortly before 8 a.m. local time.
No injuries were reported, the media office said.
The Trump administration on Thursday issued a new license allowing countries to temporarily purchase certain Russian oil products, the same day Brent crude prices settled above $100 per barrel for the first time since August 2022 as the war with Iran drags on.
Temporarily lifting the sanctions on oil from Russia, a major exporter, comes despite previous US pressure on Russian oil companies as part of a bid to stem the flow of cash funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
“To increase the global reach of existing supply, @USTreasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on social media. “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction.”
The license, posted to the US Treasury site, only applies to Russian crude or petroleum products loaded on vessels as of March 12. The license authorizes those shipments through April 11.
Some background: CNN previously reported that the US has granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver to buy Russian oil currently stranded at sea. Bessent, at the time, said the move was “to enable oil to keep flowing into the global market.”
The war, now in its second week, has seen the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil travels, effectively closed to tanker travel. Oil prices have jumped, and analysts, economists and traders have warned that even a rapid end to the war won’t necessarily mean a quick re-opening of the strait.
This post has been updated with additional details.
As the Iran war enters day 14, airstrikes in the region continue while the widening conflict roils the global economy.
Here are the latest headlines from the Middle East:
Fresh attacks: Dozens were wounded and buildings damaged in northern Israel, authorities said, as Iran announced a fresh wave of missiles launched toward Israeli territory. And in Iran, an attack on a major freeway wounded three Red Crescent workers.
French soldier dies: A French soldier was killed and several others were wounded in an attack in Iraqi Kurdistan, President Emmanuel Macron said. A drone attack had targeted a base hosting Kurdish forces and international coalition troops in northern Iraq, the governor of Erbil earlier said.
Asian markets down: Stocks opened lower Friday morning, tracking falls in global markets overnight.
License for Russian oil : The Trump administration issued a new license allowing countries to temporarily purchase certain Russian oil products.
Strait of Hormuz: The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Ship fire: A fire in the main laundry area in the USS Gerald R Ford injured two sailors, the latest issue to plague the $13-billion aircraft carrier. The fire was not combat-related and the carrier remains fully operational, the Navy’s 5th Fleet said.
An Israel Fire and Rescue commander said the missile strike that damaged buildings in the northern town of Zarzir caused “extensive destruction.”
“We arrived at the site of a missile impact in Zarzir. There was extensive destruction at the scene and considerable commotion,” fire officer Shay David said in video from the Israel Fire and Rescue.
The missile hit a complex of four houses, David said. Fire crews rescued people trapped in their homes and extinguished several fires in the impact area, he added.
Earlier, Israel’s emergency response service said paramedics treated 58 people, most with mild injuries.
Australia is releasing 762 million liters of petrol and diesel from its reserves to ease supply shortages for farmers in rural areas.
It comes a day after the country temporarily relaxed fuel quality standards to allow unleaded petrol with higher sulfur levels to be mixed with local supplies. The “dirtier” fuel is normally sent offshore.
Like elsewhere, Australia is gripped with oil supply fears, but Environment Minister Chris Bowen has repeatedly insisted the country has enough fuel – for now.
