Live Updates on the Iran War: The New Supreme Leader Makes a Decisive Statement Despite the Growing Disruption to Global Oil Supplies

Iran Strike a Ship (Image: New York Time)

 According to Iranian state media, Mojtaba Khamenei had issued his first written statement as supreme leader, in which he promised that Iran would continue to block the Strait of Hormuz, an essential oil route. The war has shaken up the world's oil markets.

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, made his first known public statements on Thursday, vowing to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route, and to avenge "the blood of the martyrs." In written statements that were published by the Iranian state media, Mr. Iran would pursue "an effective and regret-inducing defense," according to Khamenei, as well as "continue to use the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz." Oil markets were likely to become more unstable as a result of the comments. Iran has threatened to attack shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically transports one-fifth of all oil in the world. After two tankers were attacked and left burning off Iraq's coast on Thursday, Iraq and Oman shut down their oil terminals. The International Energy Agency said that the Middle East war had caused "the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market." Despite coordinated efforts by the United States and other major economies to calm markets by promising to release emergency reserves, oil prices have increased. The U.S. government has also attempted to calm concerns, with energy secretary Chris Wright telling CNN on Thursday that "the world is very well supplied with oil right now." In an earlier interview with CNBC, Mr. Wright stated that America By the end of the month, the Navy may begin guiding ships through the strait. In his declaration, Mr. Additionally, Khamenei threatened additional attacks on U.S. military bases in the region. He stated that the host nations of those bases in the Persian Gulf "must have realized that America’s claim of establishing security and peace has been nothing more than a lie." Mr.  Since being appointed on Monday to succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes at the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, Khamenei has not appeared in public or on video. Mr.  According to Iranian and Israeli officials, Khamenei, a 56-year-old hard-line cleric thought to be close to Iran's top military force, was injured in the initial strikes. His injuries' full circumstances and extent remain a mystery. The American and Israeli strikes also resulted in the deaths of his daughter, wife, and mother. The United Nations refugee agency reported on Thursday that fighting in Iran has forced up to 3.2 million people to flee their homes, raising the conflict's death toll. Since the beginning of the US-Israeli conflict, nearly 2,000 people have been killed, most of them in Iran. As it expanded its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israeli military stated that it had launched a new wave of strikes against government infrastructure in the country. After Israeli airstrikes killed at least seven people, workers swept the blood-stained sand off the sidewalk along the waterfront in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

Where ships have been struck since March 11

Source: United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations

Josh Holder/The New York Times

We also talk about the following: Death toll: It is not known how many people have died in Iran. Amir Saeed Iravani, Iran's UN representative, informed the Security Council on Wednesday that over 1,348 civilians had been killed. Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel and the Gulf states have also resulted in the deaths of dozens. According to Lebanese officials, the Israeli bombardment has displaced over 800,000 people and killed more than 600 people in Lebanon. Attacks on tankers: Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps claimed responsibility for the attack on one of the two tankers off the coast of Iraq, a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel that Iraqi officials claimed belonged to an American company. The Guards stated that the ship had “disobeyed and ignored” warnings in a statement that was cited by Iranian state media. Threatened banks: Major financial institutions like Citi and HSBC temporarily closed Persian Gulf offices after Iran said it would target U.S. and Israeli banks. After an airstrike hit a building in Tehran connected to Bank Sepah, which was established in 1922 as Iran's first modern domestic bank, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran issued the threat. Find out more: Deadly school strike: A Pentagon investigation's preliminary findings indicate that the United States was responsible for the strike on an Iranian school that resulted in the deaths of 175 people, the majority of whom were children, due to outdated targeting information. Mr.  Trump had suggested that Iran could be to blame.

Source: New York Times.