Trump urges world leaders to secure Hormuz
US president Donald Trump urged other nations to help secure a vital shipping lane choked off by the war with Iran that showed no signs of slowing on Saturday as strikes hit the US embassy in Baghdad and a major Emirati energy facility.
He calls on the UK and other nations to join the US in sending ships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Two weeks after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, the entire Gulf region remained in the grip of a conflict that has sent shockwaves through the global economy.
The war has also spilled into Lebanon, where the health ministry says Israeli strikes have killed hundreds, as Israel fought the Tehran-backed Hezbollah once again.
Washington’s embassy in Iraq was hit by a drone, security sources told AFP, the second time it has been targeted since February 28, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran and plunged the Gulf into a conflict that has sent shockwaves through the global economy.
Millions have been displaced by waves of drone, missile and aerial bombing, while more than 1,200 people have reportedly been killed in Iran, with little sign of the conflict slowing as it entered its third week.
Explosions rang out over Jerusalem, AFP reporters heard, shortly after the Israeli military warned that it had detected incoming missiles from Iran. The military said its ‘defence system is operating to intercept the threat’.
Iran has launched missile and drone attacks against at least 10 of its neighbours.
Oil prices have surged by 40 per cent as Iran chokes off the vital Strait of Hormuz with threats to shipping and strikes on Gulf energy facilities.
Two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas have safely passed through the Strait of
Hormuz, the critical chokepoint for global oil supplies disrupted by the Mideast war.
Clouds of black smoke rose Saturday over Fujairah, home to a major Emirati oil storage and export terminal, shortly after Iran’s military warned UAE civilians to avoid port areas.
Smoke could be seen rising Saturday from the direction of a major United Arab Emirates energy installation, in what appeared to be the latest strike targeting the Gulf’s petroleum facilities hours after the US struck Iran’s Kharg Island oil hub.
An AFP journalist said clouds of dark black smoke were seen coming from Fujairah, which is home to a major port and oil export terminal where Iranian attacks have already targeted an oil storage and trading hub.
