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The Latest: Key oil price spikes over $100 as Iranian attacks hit shipping

By The Associated Press  -  AP

The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked back over $100 as Iranian strikes hit ships in the regions waters and the ongoing American-Israeli war with Iran showed so signs of slowing.

Thursday’s major developments include Iranian attacks against commercial ships around the Strait of Hormuz and Iraq's port of Basra, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich Gulf region as global energy concerns mount. The U.S. campaign of airstrikes in Iran is now in its 13th day.

The Israeli military is also striking Iran and its militant ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, where more than 800,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.

Here's the latest:

Thai ministry meets Iranian ambassador over ship

The Thai Foreign Ministry said it held a meeting Thursday with the Iranian ambassador.

The ministry in Bangkok said it conveyed concerns after a Thai cargo ship was hit near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, but did not immediately share additional details of the discussion.

Israel says missiles launched from Iran

Israel said it identified more missiles launched toward the country from Iran Thursday morning.

Missile alert alarms sounded in Jerusalem, with explosions heard as the Israeli military sought to intercept the incoming fire.

Hard-liner threatens possible protesters on Iran state TV

A hard-line television presenter has threatened possible protesters against Iran’s theocracy.

Reza Mollaei, speaking Wednesday on the television program “Samt-e Khoda,” or “Towards God” in Farsi, said hard-liners were “waiting, when the dust of this unrest settles ... (to) grab you by the collar, every single one of you. And that’s already happening.”

“Confiscating your properties in nothing, we will make your mothers mourn you,” Mollaei said. “Those of you who now have foolish ideas and think things are chaotic and something must be done, this message is for you, both inside the country and outside.”

Analyst warns Gulf Arab states face increasing pressure from strait closure

Gulf Arab states will face increasing pressure on their oil production the longer the Strait of Hormuz remains under fire, an analyst said Thursday.

Pankaj Srivastava of Rystad Energy noted crude supplies are becoming increasingly stranded given the strait being effectively closed off by the attacks. Bahrain and Kuwait face the highest risk of that, he said.

“With crude supply increasingly stranded in the Gulf, refiners may soon be forced to adjust operations, curtailing runs as product exports stall and directing output solely to domestic markets,” Srivastava said.

“Three key factors will determine the resilience of refining systems across the Gulf: bypassing the strait through alternate export routes, the balance of domestic product demand and refining capacity and product exports as a ratio of current refinery runs,” Srivastava said.

Japanese-flagged cargo ship damaged in Persian Gulf

Mitsui O.S.K Lines said Thursday that a Japanese-flagged container ship One Majesty was damaged while anchored in the Persian Gulf.

All crew members on board were safe and the ship is operational. The impact cause and extent of the damage is unknown and under investigation, Mitsui said.

Crew members felt a shock near the stern and later found damages while the ship was anchored about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southwest of the Strait of Hormuz, Mitsui said.

A Mitsui-operated oil tanker also experienced minor damages from unidentified falling objects in the Gulf of Oman. The tanker has left the area and the company is investigating.

New supreme leader yet to be seen

In Iran, the country’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has still yet to be seen.

But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested online that Tehran sought the world to recognize Iran’s “legitimate rights, payment of reparations” and international guarantees against future attacks to see an end of the war.

India says sailor killed in attack on tanker off Basra

An Indian sailor was killed after a U.S.-owned crude oil tanker was attacked near the Iraqi port city of Basra, India’s embassy in Baghdad said Thursday.

The vessel, Safesea Vishnu, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, came under attack March 11 while operating near Basra, the embassy said.

The remaining 15 Indian crew members were evacuated and are safe, the embassy said.

Checkpoints in Iran’s capital targeted

Security force checkpoints in Iran’s capital came under attack for the first time Wednesday night by suspected drones assaults, killing at least 10 people, a semiofficial news agency reported.

The Fars news agency, believed to be close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, reported the attacks. Other Iranian media cited its report.

Gunfire could be heard in the city as continuous airstrikes targeted the city Wednesday night. The gunfire appeared to come from the checkpoints, which often include members of the all-volunteer Basij force of the Guard and officer of Iran’s police force.

It wasn’t clear what kind of drones were used, though the United States is employing a reverse-engineered version of Iran’s Shahed drone in the war.

Israel and the U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment over whether they were behind the attacks.

Such assaults, if intensified, could pressure the forces used to suppress demonstrations in Iran as the U.S. has said it hopes the Iranian people overthrow its theocracy at some point in the war.

Bahrain arrests alleged spies for Iran

Bahrain said Thursday it arrested four people for allegedly spying for Iran.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said a fifth person remains at large.

The ministry accused all five of having “used high-resolution photography equipment to photograph and record coordinates of vital and important locations” on behalf of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The ministry alleged that material had been sent to the Guard using encrypted software.

It wasn’t immediately clear if those detained had a lawyer.

Iran has loaded estimated 18.5 million oil barrels for shipment

Iran has been able to load an estimate 18.5 million barrels of oil for shipment since the start of the war on Feb. 28, said Homayoun Falakshahi, an analyst at commodities firm Kpler.

Of those barrels, 16.5 million were loaded in the Persian Gulf at Kharg Island, with the rest coming from its Jask terminal on the Gulf of Oman, he added.

Those shipments broadly appeared bound for China.

Bangladesh seeks US approval to buy oil from Russia

Bangladesh asked the United States to allow the country to purchase oil from Russia as supply shortages and surging crude oil prices pressure its economy.

Bangladesh’s Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury made the request during a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Dhaka, Brent T. Christensen, on Wednesday.

The U.S. sanctioned Russian oil following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Bangladesh heavily relies on imports of fuel from the Middle East, and the government started a rationing system for the vehicles after the war began. It has shuttered fertilizer factory to keep fuel flowing to power plants and closed universities in an effort to reduce energy consumption.

The country is also making effort to bring fuel from alternative sources. India has already supplied 5,000 tons of diesel as an emergency measure through a cross-border pipeline. Bangladesh has requested India to increase the volume of fuel supply.

Israel warns of missile launched from Iran

Israel’s military said it was working to intercept a missile launch from Iran early on Thursday morning.

It was the third such announcement Thursday, as Israel also said it was targeting Tehran with strikes.

Other overnight missile launches from Iran sent Israelis hurrying to shelters in areas from the very southern tip of the country, to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, to the Galilee and the northern border with Lebanon, where sirens were also sounded to warn of drone and rocket attacks from Hezbollah.

Drone hits residential building in Kuwait

Kuwait’s Defense Ministry said an Iranian drone smashed into a residential building Thursday in the small Mideast nation, wounding two people.

Ship hit in Persian Gulf off UAE

A container ship off Dubai in the Persian Gulf came under attack Thursday, sparking a small fire, the British military said.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the attack happened just before dawn. It said an “unknown projectile” hit the vessel as it was some 65 kilometers (40 miles) off the coast of Dubai’s Jebel Ali port.

It added that the crew of the vessel were safe.

Brent crude oil tops $100 a barrel as Iran attacks worsen supply concerns

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, topped $100 a barrel early Thursday, just days after it spiked near $120.

Oil prices shot more than 9% higher as supply concerns worsened with Iranian attacks on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. benchmark crude oil jumped to about $95 a barrel.

Read more here.

Iraqi officials shut oil terminals after deadly strike hits Basra port

An attack on Iraq’s Basra port early Thursday killed at least one person and forced authorities to halt operations at all the country’s oil terminals, officials said.

Farhan al-Fartousi, the director-general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, made the announcement in a statement carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency on Thursday. Al-Fartousi said the attack targeted ships in the ship-to-ship transfer are of the Basra port on the Persian Gulf. He said it remained unclear if the ship was targeted by a flying or seaborne drone or a missile.

Rescuers recovered one dead body and helped 38 others after the attack. He said commercial ports in Iraq remained open, though the oil terminals had been shut.

Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization has identified the two tankers as the Safesea Vishnu, flagged in the Marshall Islands, and the tanker Zefyros, flagged in Malta.

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