Kenneth Glad
Investors and governments scramble to assess the widening fallout as tensions surge across the Middle East. The White House signals that diplomatic channels remain an option even as the confrontation intensifies.
Energy markets and Gulf transport hubs were shaken as hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran moved into a second day. With missiles exchanged and new fronts emerging, the crisis, reports The Guardian, quickly extended beyond military targets to global trade routes and Iran’s political leadership.
Amid the escalation, President Donald Trump said he would be willing to speak with Iran’s surviving leadership, even as Tehran publicly rejected negotiations.
Trade routes under strain
Brent crude climbed in early trading after reports of attacks on tankers in or near the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for about one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil. The Guardian, drawing on shipping data and maritime tracking information, reported that roughly 150 tankers chose to anchor rather than risk sailing through the corridor.
In its coverage, The Guardian said major container operators, including MSC and Maersk, halted transits in the area as insurers and shipping companies reassessed the security environment.
Missile strikes also forced temporary closures at airports in Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, according to the newspaper, disrupting regional and long-haul flights.
The Strait of Hormuz has repeatedly been at the center of US-Iran tensions. Past episodes involving tanker seizures and suspected sabotage have led to short-lived price spikes and increased naval patrols, highlighting the route’s vulnerability during periods of confrontation.
Civilians caught up
Speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN security council, Iran’s ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani said hundreds of civilians had been killed or injured in US-Israeli strikes and accused the two countries of hitting residential districts.
Iranian state media reported that 165 people were confirmed dead following a bombing at a girls’ primary school in Minab, in southern Iran. Officials said rescue operations were continuing and the toll could increase.
Nine Israelis have been killed in Iranian missile counterattacks, The Guardian reported. The paper also said US authorities confirmed three American service members were killed and five injured, without providing details of the location.
The fighting expanded to Lebanon as well. The Guardian wrote that Israel began targeting Hezbollah positions after the group launched missiles and drones toward northern Israel.
Power shift in Tehran
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, was killed in the initial strikes, according to The Guardian’s account. Because no successor had been publicly designated, Iranian officials formed a temporary leadership council.
Under Iran’s constitution, a panel composed of senior officials can assume the supreme leader’s responsibilities until the Assembly of Experts appoints a permanent replacement, a process that can be accelerated during a national emergency.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the selection would proceed quickly, telling the MS Now Velshi programme: “I don’t think it would take that long because we are under this critical situation of an imposed war of aggression by the United States and Israel. So I guess the process would be expedited.”
In comments to the Atlantic, Trump signaled openness to dialogue. “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said. “They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”
Sources: The Guardian, The Atlantic.
