The conflict, which began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, has killed over 1,200 people and displaced millions, according to Iranian health ministry figures and UN estimates
Iran warned on Saturday that any attack on US-linked oil facilities would be “reduced to a pile of ashes,” after US President Donald Trump said he might strike Iran’s largest oil export hub on Kharg Island.
The conflict, which began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, has killed over 1,200 people and displaced millions, according to Iranian health ministry figures and UN estimates.
Despite facing superior US and Israeli firepower, Iran has launched missile and drone attacks across at least 10 countries and threatened to target oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, a key route that handles one-fifth of global oil supply.
Since the start of the war, crude oil prices have surged more than 40 percent.
Trump said Friday that US forces had “totally obliterated” military targets on Kharg Island but had, for now, spared the oil infrastructure.
He warned that any interference with the Strait of Hormuz could change that decision and said the US Navy would soon begin escorting tankers to secure oil exports.
In response, Iran’s military declared that any attack on oil and energy facilities owned by US-linked companies would be “immediately destroyed and turned into a pile of ashes,” according to Iranian media.
Heavy blasts shook Tehran on Friday, while the Revolutionary Guards warned of strong retaliation against anti-government protests amid ongoing internet blackouts. Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was reportedly killed early in the campaign, with his son Mojtaba named as successor but remaining absent from public view.
The war has spread beyond Iran. A drone struck the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, and Iran-backed fighters were killed in strikes on Iraq’s capital. Qatar and Saudi Arabia reported intercepting missiles and drones targeting their territories, while Turkey said NATO forces shot down an Iranian ballistic missile.
Lebanon has also been affected, with an Israeli strike in the south killing at least 12 healthcare workers at a clinic, and 773 people reported killed in attacks targeting Hezbollah, a Tehran-backed militant group.
The US has sent reinforcements, including the USS Tripoli and 2,500 Marines, to the region. US military losses total 13 personnel since the start of the conflict, including six killed in a refuelling aircraft crash in Iraq that was not linked to hostile action.
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