Iran's unrelenting attacks on Mideast shipping and energy infrastructure
send oil prices soaring
[March 12, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL, DAVID RISING and SALLY ABOU ALJOUD
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Unrelenting Iranian attacks on
shipping traffic and energy infrastructure pushed oil above $100 a
barrel Thursday, as American and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic
Republic with no sign of an end to the war in sight.
Iran hit a container ship off the coast of Dubai, caused a blaze near
Bahrain's international airport, targeted a major Saudi oil field with a
drone and forced Iraq to halt operations at all of its oil terminals
after attacking its port of Basra on the Persian Gulf.
Iran flouted a U.N. Security Council resolution from the previous day
demanding that it halt strikes on its Gulf neighbors, with new attacks
also reported in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Sirens wailed before dawn in Jerusalem as Israel intercepted incoming
Iranian missiles, and loud booms were heard later in the day in another
attack on the city.
Israel launched a “wide-scale wave of strikes” on Tehran and in Lebanon,
where Israel says it is targeting Iran-linked Hezbollah militants, 11
people were killed in two early morning strikes.
Since the United States and Israel started the war with a Feb. 28 attack
on Iran, Tehran has focused on inflicting enough global economic pain to
pressure them to halt their attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that was not imminent, however,
promising to “finish the job” even though he claimed Iran is “virtually
destroyed.”
“We don’t want to leave early do we? We’ve got to finish the job," he
said at an event Wednesday in Kentucky.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei hasn't yet made a
statement or been seen since being chosen to succeed his father
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening day of the
conflict. But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested online
Thursday that for the war to end, the world would need to recognize
Iran’s “legitimate rights," pay reparations and offer guarantees against
future attacks.
In addition to attacking energy infrastructure around the region, Iran
has a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway leading from
the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean through which a fifth of the
world's oil is transported.
Amid speculation that the U.S. might target Kharg Island in the Persian
Gulf, Iran’s main oil terminal, Iran's parliamentary speaker threatened
that any attempt to take Iranian islands would “make the Persian Gulf
run with the blood of invaders.”
“The blood of American soldiers is Trump’s personal responsibility,”
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf added in a social media post.
With traffic in the strait effectively stopped, the price of Brent crude
oil, the international standard, rose another 9% to more than $100 a
barrel, up some 38% over what it cost when the war started.
Iran fires at Gulf Arab countries and hits ship in Persian Gulf
The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to approve a resolution
demanding a halt to Iran’s “egregious attacks” on its Gulf neighbors,
but Tehran showed no signs of changing its strategy.
As the day began Thursday, a container ship in the Persian Gulf was hit
with a projectile off the coast of Dubai, sparking a small fire,
according to British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations
Center. It said the crew of the vessel were safe.
In Bahrain, an Iranian attack sparked a major fire on Muharraq Island,
home to the country's international airport. Sirens sounded again later
in the morning with more incoming Iranian fire.
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Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen
from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Kuwait's Defense Ministry said an Iranian drone smashed into a
residential building, wounding two people. The UAE said it had
activated air defenses twice to protect Dubai from attacks, and
firefighters extinguished a blaze at a tower in Dubai Creek Harbor
after a drone hit.
Saudi Arabia said it shot down a drone targeting the diplomatic
quarter of the capital, Riyadh, and also reported downing drones in
the kingdom’s east, including at least one trying to target its
Shaybah oil field.
Following an attack on Iraq's Basra port Wednesday that killed at
least one person, officials said Thursday that operations were
halted at all the country's oil terminals.
Farhan al-Fartousi, the director-general of the General Company for
Ports of Iraq, said the attack targeted a vessel in a ship-to-ship
transfer area of the Persian Gulf port.
In the UAE, CitiBank said it would close all its branches except one
due to a threat by Iran, not yet realized, to target financial
institutions in the region. Other financial institutions have
reportedly urged their staff to work from home for the time being.
Explosions heard in Jerusalem while Lebanon and Tehran are hit
In addition to the attacks on Jerusalem, in which no casualties were
immediately reported, missile launches from Iran and Hezbollah also
sent Israelis to shelters in multiple other areas, including Tel
Aviv and the northern border with Lebanon.
An Israeli strike hit a car Thursday in Ramlet al-Bayda, a major
seaside tourist area of Beirut where dozens of displaced people have
been sheltering. Eight people were killed and 31 others were
wounded, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The Israeli military
press office told The Associated Press it was “not aware” of a
strike at that location.
In Aramoun, a town about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Beirut,
another three people were killed and a child was wounded in another
early Israeli attack.
In Tehran, security force checkpoints came under attack for the
first time on Wednesday night, the semiofficial Fars news agency
reported. At least 10 people were killed in the suspected drone
assaults.
Israel and the U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately
respond to requests for comment over whether they were behind the
attacks.
Hundreds of thousands displaced
At least 634 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest
fighting began, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The U.N. refugee agency said at least 759,000 people have been
internally displaced in Lebanon.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed
there, and Israel has reported 12 people dead. The U.S. has lost
seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.
___
Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut and Rising from Bangkok. Associated
Press writer Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, also contributed to
this report, along with AP journalists around the world.
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