More tankers come under Iran attack as Middle East war enters day six

The US-Israel attacks on Iran entered its sixth day today (5 March) with what residents described as even more intensive bombing, while Iran vowed to retaliate anywhere for a US attack on a ship thousands of miles from the battle zone.

More tankers came under attack in Gulf waters today as the Middle East war escalated, and Iranian drones entered Azerbaijan, threatening to spread the crisis to more oil producers in the region, reports Reuters.

A Bahamas-flagged crude oil tanker was targeted by an Iranian remote-controlled boat laden with explosives while anchored near Iraq's Khor al Zubair port, according to initial assessments. A second tanker at anchor off Kuwait was taking on water and spilling oil after a large explosion on its port side.

Nine vessels have come under attack since the conflict broke out between the US, Israel and Iran on Saturday. Iran launched a wave of missiles at Israel early today and also sent drones into Azerbaijan, injuring four people.

Quoting officials, BBC reports that Azerbaijan is preparing "retaliatory measures" following the drone strike.

The escalation comes after a motion to halt the US attacks was blocked in Washington and as the son of Iran's slain supreme leader ⁠emerged as a frontrunner to succeed him, suggesting Tehran was not about to buckle under the pressure.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer today said the UK is sending more jets to the Middle East, reports BBC. He also warned that the conflict, which saw over 1,000 people being killed, could continue "for some time."

Inside Iran, the abrupt postponement of a planned three days of mourning for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei interrupted apparent plans to swiftly anoint Khamenei's hardliner son as his successor.

"Today is worse than yesterday. They are striking northern Tehran. We have nowhere to go. It is like a war zone. Help us," said Mohammadreza, 36, by phone from Tehran, with a shaky voice as explosions rang out from what Israel described as its latest wave of strikes on Iranian government targets.

Iran vows revenge after warship sunk

Iran vowed to take revenge for a US torpedo attack on an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, which killed more than 80 sailors.

Iran's foreign minister said Washington would "bitterly regret" the precedent it had set by sinking a ship in international waters without ⁠warning. A commander of the Revolutionary Guards, General Kioumars Heydari, told state TV: "We have decided to fight Americans wherever they are."

The body of Ali Khamenei, killed in the first hours of the US-Israeli air campaign in the first assassination of a country's top ruler by an airstrike, was due to lie in state in a Tehran prayer hall from Wednesday evening to launch three days of mourning.

But the memorial, expected to draw many thousands of mourners to the streets, was abruptly and indefinitely postponed shortly before it was due to begin.

In the hours before announcing the delay, Iranian officials had said they were close to naming Khamenei's successor, and that the leading candidate was his son Mojtaba, a powerful hardliner whose selection would be a strong gesture of defiance.

Iranian officials gave no reason for the postponement of the memorial, but a source told Reuters it was motivated in part by fear of assassination of those attending while Israeli and US warplanes remain in the skies.

Announcing the younger Khamenei as successor during a mourning period would allow him to take power while his father's followers were on the streets, rallying support and making it more difficult for any opponents to mount a challenge.

Israel has said it would consider any replacement for Khamenei, who continued hostile policies, an immediate target to be killed.

Market volatility

Although some international financial markets recovered from falls earlier in the week, the economic impact, opens new tab of the campaign intensified, with countries around the world cut off from a fifth of global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas.

Oil prices extended their rally today, with Brent climbing 3% and WTI rising 4%. They have both jumped 16% since the war started on Saturday, as US-Israeli strikes on Iran disrupted Middle East supplies.

A benchmark European gas price gained around 3% today. It has surged nearly 60% so far this week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his ⁠country could halt gas supplies to Europe right now, amid the spike in energy prices from the Iran crisis.

Qatar, which provides 20% of the world's LNG supply, halted gas production earlier this week due to the conflict. 

Other major producers such as the US and Australia have little spare capacity to offset this lost supply, according to Reuters calculations and industry ⁠analysts.