DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran launched new attacks on Tuesday at Gulf Arab countries as it kept up pressure on the Middle East in a war that has sent oil prices surging and stunned global economies. Five pro-Iranian militiamen were killed in an airstrike in northern Iraq.
Incoming missile sirens sounded early in the morning in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and in Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two drones over its oil-rich eastern region and Kuwait’s National Guard said it had shot down six drones.
In addition to firing missiles and drones at Israel and at American bases in the region, Iran has also been targeting energy infrastructure which, combined with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, has sent oil prices soaring.
Brent crude, the international standard, spiked to nearly $120 on Monday before falling back but was still at around $90 a barrel on Tuesday, nearly 24% higher than when the war started on Feb. 28.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has previously said that the war could last for a month or longer, on Tuesday sought to downplay growing fears that it could be a long-term regional conflict, saying it was “going to be a short-term excursion.”
Trump sends contradictory messages, Tehran says it’s prepared for a long war
The war has choked off major supplies of oil and gas to world markets and sent fuel prices rising across the U.S. The fighting has also led foreigners to flee from business hubs and prompted millions to seek shelter as bombs hit military bases, government buildings, oil and water installations, hotels and at least one school.
Iran has effectively stopped tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman — the gateway to the Indian Ocean — through which 20% of the world’s oil is carried. Attacks on merchant ships near the strait have killed at least seven sailors, according to the International Maritime Organization.
In a post on social media on Tuesday, Trump seemed not to acknowledge that, saying that “If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”
In an apparent response to Trump’s remarks published in Iranian state media, a spokesperson for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammad Naini, said “Iran will determine when the war ends.”
Kamal Kharazi, foreign policy adviser to the office of the supreme leader, told CNN on Monday that Iran is prepared for a long war. He said he sees no “room for diplomacy anymore” unless economic pressure prompts other countries to intervene and stop the “aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran.”
Iranian women’s soccer team gets asylum in Australia
Five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were in Australia for a tournament when the Iran war began were granted asylum, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters in Brisbane.
The team drew widespread news coverage in Australia when players didn’t sing the Iranian anthem before their first match.
Burke, who posted photos on social media of the women smiling and clapping as he signed documents, said they “were very excited about embarking on a life in Australia.”
The team of 26 players had arrived for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the war started. They were knocked out over the weekend, raising prospect of having to return home to a country under attack.
Burke said all players on the squad had been offered asylum. It was not clear if or when the other 21 players would return to Iran.
Airstrike on Iran-linked militia in Iraq kills 5
As the conflict has spread against the region, Israel has launched multiple attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group responding and firing missiles into Israel.
Pro-Iran militias in Iraq have also launched attacks at U.S. bases in the country since the beginning of the conflict.
Early Tuesday, one of those militias, the 40th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces in the city of Kirkuk, was hit with an airstrike that killed at least five militiamen and wounded four others, according to officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the strikes.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Tuesday it completed a series of strikes targeting Hezbollah’s financial arm, al-Qard Al-Hasan. Israel, which says Hezbollah uses al-Qard al-Hasan to finance its military activities, also targeted several of the group’s branches in southern and eastern Lebanon last week.
Israel’s military also reiterated a call for all residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes, saying it planned to “operate forcefully” there against Hezbollah.
Since the war began, at least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to officials.
A total of seven U.S. service members have been killed.
Financial markets, which swung wildly in recent days, opened the day Tuesday in Asia with early gains, building on late optimism in the U.S.
As it faced headwinds from the conflict, Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco reported 2025 profits of $104 billion, down from $110 billion in 2024.
Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said its 2025 revenues were $445 billion, down from $480 billion in 2024.
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Magdy reported from Cairo, and Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, John Pye in Gold Coast, Australia and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this story.
Jon Gambrell, David Rising And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press
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