Iran launches new attacks at Israel and Gulf countries as it keeps up
pressure on the Middle East
[March 10, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL, DAVID RISING and SAMY MAGDY
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran launched new attacks on Tuesday
at Israel and Gulf Arab countries as it kept up pressure on the Middle
East in a war that has impacted the region and beyond, sent oil prices
surging and stunned global economies.
Sirens warned of incoming missiles in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates,
and in Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia said it destroyed two drones over its
oil-rich eastern region and Kuwait's National Guard said it shot down
six drones.
Later in the morning, sirens also sounded in Jerusalem, and sounds of
explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel's defense systems worked
to intercept incoming fire, not long after the military said it detected
an Iranian missile launch.
“We are definitely not looking for a ceasefire,” Iran's parliament
speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, wrote defiantly on X. "We believe that
the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a lesson
so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again.”
In addition to firing missiles and drones at Israel and at American
bases in the region, Iran has also been targeting energy infrastructure
which, combined with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, sent oil
prices soaring.
Brent crude, the international standard, spiked to nearly $120 on Monday
before falling back but was still at around $90 a barrel on Tuesday,
nearly 24% higher than when the war started on Feb. 28.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has previously said that the war could
last for a month or longer, sought to downplay growing fears that it
could take even longer, saying it was “going to be a short-term
excursion.”
Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the strikes on
Iran would continue.
“Our aim is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny,
(but) ultimately it depends on them,” Netanyahu said during a meeting
with Israel’s hospital and health system leaders. "There is no doubt
that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones.”
Trump sends contradictory messages, Tehran says it's prepared for a
long war
The war has choked off major supplies of oil and gas to world markets
and sent fuel prices rising. The fighting has also led foreigners to
flee from business hubs and prompted millions to seek shelter as bombs
hit military bases, government buildings, oil and water installations,
hotels and at least one school.
Iran has effectively stopped tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz,
the shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman — the
gateway to the Indian Ocean — through which 20% of the world's oil is
carried. Attacks on merchant ships near the strait have killed at least
seven sailors, according to the International Maritime Organization.
In a post on social media, Trump seemed not to acknowledge that, saying
that "If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait
of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES
HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”
Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco,
said tankers were being rerouted to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, and that
its East-West pipeline would reach its full capacity of 7 million
barrels a day being brought to Red Sea ports this week.
“The situation at the Strait of Hormuz is blocking sizable volumes of
oil from the whole region," he said in a conference call after Aramco,
formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., reported 2025 profits of
$104 billion, down from $110 billion in 2024.
He also hinted at global oil markets being squeezed the longer the Iran
war goes on and shipments from the Mideast remain affected.
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People gather in a rally to support Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the
successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme
leader, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid
Salemi)
“Given the current geopolitical situation, we may see inventories
eroding and being drawn down faster as shipments are being curtailed
from the region,” he said. “This is at a time when current global
spare capacity remains extremely low.”
If supply grows tighter, it would likely push the price per barrel
globally even higher, translating to higher costs for gasoline and
jet fuel.
Iranian women's soccer team gets asylum in Australia
Five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were in
Australia for a tournament when the Iran war began were granted
asylum, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters in Brisbane.
The team drew widespread news coverage in Australia when players
didn’t sing the Iranian anthem before their first match. The 26
players had arrived for the Women's Asian Cup last month, before the
war started. They were knocked out over the weekend, raising
prospect of having to return home to a country under attack.
Burke, who posted photos on social media of the women smiling and
clapping as he signed documents, said all players on the squad had
been offered asylum.
It was not clear if or when the other 21 players would return to
Iran.
Airstrike on Iran-linked militia in Iraq kills 5
As the conflict spread across the region, Israel launched multiple
attacks on the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon, which responded
by firing missiles into Israel.
Pro-Iran militias in Iraq have also launched attacks at U.S. bases
in the country since the beginning of the conflict.
Early Tuesday, one such militia — the 40th Brigade of the Popular
Mobilization Forces in the city of Kirkuk — was hit with an
airstrike that killed at least five militiamen and wounded four,
according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because
they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the strikes.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Tuesday it completed a series
of strikes targeting Hezbollah’s financial arm, al-Qard Al-Hasan.
Israel had also targeted several of the group’s branches in southern
and eastern Lebanon last week.
Israel's military also reiterated a call for all residents of
southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes, saying it planned to
“operate forcefully” there against Hezbollah.
Since the war began, at least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran,
at least 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to officials.
A total of seven U.S. service members have been killed.
Financial markets, which swung wildly in recent days, opened the day
Tuesday in Asia with early gains, building on late optimism in the
U.S.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo, and Rising reported from Bangkok.
Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, John Pye in
Gold Coast, Australia and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel,
contributed to this story.
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