Iran’s new leader says Hormuz to stay shut as attacks escalate

Iran’s new supreme leader said the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed and Tehran will look to open other fronts in the war if the U.S. and Israel persist with their attacks.

In his first public comments since succeeding his father four days ago, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said the critical waterway for oil and gas must remain effectively shut — maintaining a choke on energy supplies from the energy-rich region.

“Studies have been conducted into opening other fronts where the enemy has little experience and would be highly vulnerable, and their activation will take place if the state of war persists,” Khamenei said in comments published on state media on Thursday.

His comments indicate that Iran isn’t close to backing down after almost two weeks of bombardment from the U.S. and Israel, a conflict that’s upended energy and financial markets worldwide.

Dubai authorities reported at least two strikes Thursday morning after residents received missile alerts overnight, underlining the threat to the financial and tourist hub long seen as a safe haven.

Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel in early trading on Thursday, before paring gains to around $93. It’s up around 60% this year.

The U.S. “is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” President Donald Trump said in a social-media post. “BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World.”

The latest Iranian attacks, which included several drones fired at Kuwait’s international airport, came as Israel began a fresh wave of large-scale strikes across the Islamic Republic. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military is also preparing to expand its operations in Lebanon, where it’s been fighting a parallel campaign against the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia.

The U.S. and Israel have been attacking Iran with airstrikes since Feb. 28, triggering a response from Tehran that’s seen missiles and drones fired across the Gulf. Besides jolting energy and financial markets, the conflict has resulted in thousands of flight cancellations and disrupted the flows of fertilizer and other goods.

Around 2,500 people have been killed across the Middle East since the war began, official tolls and those from non-government agencies show.

Two crude tankers were hit in Iraqi waters and Oman temporarily evacuated a key oil-export terminal of Mina Al Fahal as risks to global energy supply deepened.

The Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas flows — has been all but impassable since the opening salvos of the war. Countries from Saudi Arabia to Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have had to curb crude production.

Ports in Oman and on the United Arab Emirates’ east coast — both outside the narrow waterway — are being used as emergency gateways for goods bound for the region. The U.S. Navy could start escorting tankers through the strait by the end of this month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.

The International Energy Agency warned on Thursday that the current oil supply disruption is the largest in the history of the oil market, underscoring days of wild price moves. The war has hit 7.5% of global output and an even bigger swath of exports, it said.

The war shows no sign of abating, with leaders on both sides seemingly far apart in what they are demanding for any de-escalation to take place.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian gave the most specific comments yet as to what it would take for his country to accept a ceasefire. Tehran needs “firm int’l guarantees against future aggression” as well as reparations, he said on X on Wednesday, after speaking to “leaders of Russia and Pakistan.”

U.S. military and Israeli officials are suggesting the conflict could continue for weeks, rather than days. Katz said the campaign will continue until “victory is achieved.”

Trump gave mixed messages as to how long the U.S. is prepared to keep the war going. He told Axios there is “practically nothing left to target” in the Islamic Republic. Yet he also signaled in a speech that it would be unwise for the U.S. to wind up hostilities too soon.

“We don’t want to leave early, right?” he told a crowd in Kentucky.

Trump again tried to reassure Americans and traders about energy prices, saying a massive release of emergency oil reserves approved by the IEA on Wednesday would ease price pressures.

The move to discharge a record 400 million barrels would “substantially reduce oil prices as we end this threat to America and this threat to the world,” he said.

His comments and the announcement of the release of reserves did little to calm volatile markets.

“There’s no plan, there’s no endgame” for the U.S.-Israeli campaign, Richard Dalton, Former U.K. Ambassador to Iran, told Bloomberg Radio. “It appears that as the ripples spread, the United States is losing control.”

The U.S. national average cost for a gallon of gasoline rose to $3.58 on Wednesday, its highest since May 2024, American Automobile Association data shows.

Trump is preparing to invoke Cold War-era powers to clear the way for renewed oil production off the southern California coast, according to a person familiar with the matter. The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. also announced that Chubb Ltd. is partnering with the agency on a $20 billion reinsurance backstop aimed at reviving shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

At least 1,825 Iranians have been killed so far, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. As many as 3.2 million Iranians have been temporarily displaced, the U.N.’s refugee agency said on X.

Seven U.S. service members have died, most of them in the first two days of fighting. There have been several deaths in Gulf countries and Israel.

Some 634 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, which began on March 2, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency said.