Iran strikes oil tankers in Hormuz as Trump claims to have won the war
US forces responsible for strike on girls’ school in Iran, US military investigation shows
Two tankers were ablaze in an Iraqi port today (12 March) after a hit by suspected Iranian explosive-laden boats, a step-up in attacks that have cut off oil from the Middle East and defied US President Donald Trump's claim to have won the war he launched two weeks ago.
Images verified by Reuters as having been filmed from the shore of the port of Basra showed ships engulfed in massive orange fireballs that lit up the night sky, after the attacks, which Iraqi authorities blamed on Iranian boats. At least one crew member was killed.
Hours earlier, three other ships had been struck in the Gulf. Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for at least one of those attacks, on a Thai bulk carrier that was set ablaze, which the Guards said had disobeyed their orders. Another container vessel reported being struck by an unknown projectile near the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
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Iran's supreme leader vows revenge
Iran will avenge the blood of its martyrs, keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and attack US bases, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said today in a statement read out on state television, his first remarks since succeeding his slain father.
In the defiant address, Khamenei said the United States must close all its bases in the region. The strait, which runs past Iran's coast and supplies a fifth of the world's oil, should remain shut to put pressure on the enemy, he said.
Global energy supplies disrupted
The war that began with a US-Israeli bombing campaign at the end of February has so far killed around 2,000 people and caused what the International Energy Agency describes as the biggest disruption to global energy supplies in history.
Undermining US and Israeli claims to have knocked out much of Iran's stock of long-range weapons, more drones were reported on Thursday flying into Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.
Lebanon's militia Hezbollah fired its biggest volley of rockets into Israel of the war, prompting fresh Israeli strikes on Beirut.
Oil prices soared back above $100 a barrel, having come down earlier in the week when Trump said the war would be over soon. Iran has said it will not let oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important energy trade route, until US and Israeli attacks cease.
'We won,' says Trump
Trump has repeatedly tried to calm energy markets this week by saying the surge in oil prices will be short-lived.
But he has not explained how the war will end, or presented a plan to reopen the blockaded strait. US and Israeli officials say the aim is to destroy Iran's missile and nuclear programmes, but Trump has also demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" and the power to determine its leaders.
"You never like to say too early you won. We won," Trump told a campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday. "In the first hour it was over."
The United States had "virtually destroyed Iran", he said. But he added: "We don't want to leave early, do we? We got to finish the job."
Officials from President Donald Trump's administration estimated during a congressional briefing this week that the first six days of the war on Iran had cost the United States at least $11.3 billion, a source familiar with the matter said.
US likely struck girls' school using outdated targeting data
An ongoing, internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for the strike on the girls' school in Minab.
The strike that killed scores of children may be the result of US use of outdated targeting data, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, providing new details about what would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of US conflicts.
Video surfaced that experts say appears to show a US Tomahawk missile striking the area. But exactly how the tragedy unfolded has remained unclear and the Pentagon has declined comment, saying the investigation remains ongoing.
The strike, during the first day of US and Israeli attacks on Iran, killed 150 students, according to Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini.
According to archived copies of the school's official website, the school is adjacent to a compound operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military force that reports to Iran's supreme leader.
One of the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said officials responsible for creating targeting packages appeared to have used out-of-date intelligence. The second source confirmed that out-of-date intelligence appears to have been used.
