Iran vowed to widen its retaliation across the Middle East after U.S. airstrikes hit a key energy hub, while U.S. President Donald Trump urged friendly nations to deploy naval forces to protect the Strait of Hormuz, an artery vital to global oil and gas shipments. There were no immediate signs on Sunday that the fighting was drawing to a close.
In a social media post on Saturday, the president said: "The Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help - A LOT!" He added that "The U.S. will also coordinate with those Countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well."
Tehran has signaled it could move to escalate the conflict, and Iranian leaders have rejected the idea of a ceasefire while U.S. and Israeli air operations continue. Iranian military forces have maintained offensive actions, including a drone strike that disrupted a major energy hub in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. Meanwhile, the U.S. issued a warning urging American citizens to leave Iraq following a missile strike on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad overnight Friday.
The war, which began in late February when Israel and the United States started air attacks on Iranian targets, has resulted in more than 2,000 deaths, most of them in Iran, according to government and state media reports. Among recent strikes, at least 15 people were killed when an airstrike hit a refrigerator and heater factory in Isfahan, central Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
Military and energy targets
U.S. Central Command reported that strikes on Kharg Island - an island about 15 miles (24 km) off Iran s coastline in the Gulf - hit more than 90 sites, which the command described as naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers and other military targets. The U.S. said it targeted military rather than energy industry facilities on the island. Iran, for its part, downplayed the scale of damage reported on Kharg.
Iran s Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that it launched nine ballistic missiles and 33 drones towards the UAE. Iranian authorities also warned residents to evacuate areas near Jebel Ali port in Dubai, Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi and the UAE s Fujairah port. In addition, Iran said it was targeting branches of U.S. banks operating in the Gulf.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps described facilities linked to the United States as "legitimate target[s]" and urged all U.S. industries to leave the region. Iran s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, stated that Iran would respond to any attack on its energy facilities.
Impact on shipping and oil flows
Iran has the capability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a major global channel for oil and gas shipments. That prospect presents a significant challenge for the U.S. and its partners, who are already confronting sharp increases in energy prices as the conflict has produced the largest disruption to oil supplies on record.
Some oil-loading operations were suspended in the UAE s Fujairah emirate after Saturday s drone attack, according to industry and trade sources. Fujairah, located outside the Strait of Hormuz, serves as the outlet for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE s Murban crude oil - a volume equivalent to roughly 1% of global demand. Local authorities said a drone had been intercepted, while civil defence teams continued efforts late Saturday to extinguish a fire caused by falling debris.
Diplomatic maneuvers and coalition outreach
President Trump, spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, called on several major economies and security partners to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. He mentioned China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain among those he hoped would contribute naval forces. None of those countries immediately indicated they would dispatch ships.
French officials said on Friday they were working to assemble a coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz once the security environment stabilizes. A British Ministry of Defence spokesperson said on Saturday: "As we ve said previously, we are currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region."
According to three sources familiar with diplomatic exchanges, the U.S. administration rebuffed attempts by Middle Eastern partners to initiate diplomatic talks to end the war.
Leadership questions and official statements
Iran s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei - who replaced his slain father - has stated that the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed. Speculation in some quarters that Khamenei was wounded and disfigured was dismissed by Foreign Minister Araqchi, who told MS Now: "There is no problem with the new supreme leader. He sent his message yesterday, and he will perform his duties." Khamenei has not made public appearances recently but issued a statement on Thursday that was read by a television presenter.
Regional warnings and local denials
Iran accused the UAE of allowing U.S. forces to use its territory to strike Iranian targets, calling on civilians in the UAE to evacuate ports, docks and "American hideouts." The UAE denied that the strikes on Kharg Island overnight Friday originated from its territory.
As strikes and counterstrikes continue, disruptions to oil markets and shipping lanes look likely to persist in the near term. The combination of direct attacks on energy-related infrastructure, warnings to civilians near major ports and the arresting prospect of measures taken against shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has kept markets and regional actors on alert.
At present, the information available in official statements and media reports points to an intensifying confrontation with a continuing impact on energy flows and regional security. Observers and market participants face a landscape of ongoing military operations, shifting diplomatic efforts and persistent uncertainty about when hostilities might ease.