Iran-US war latest: Massive Kuwaiti oil tanker off Dubai port hit as Trump issues fresh warning to Tehran – UK Times

Emergency teams responded early this morning to a fire in an abandoned house in Al Badaa, a residential area in Dubai, after debris fell following an air defense interception, injuring four people, the Dubai Media Office said.

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this week to discuss the security of the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reported, citing an official from Macron’s office.

The summit will reportedly take place in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil, as the US and Israel continue their attacks against the Middle Eastern country.

Asian countries are particularly reliant on the oil carried through the strait.

Earlier this month, Japan and France joined dozens of other countries condemning the “de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces”.

“We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping”, the joint statement read.

A fire on board a fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker hit by an Iranian attack at Dubai Port’s anchorage has been extinguished, after the strike damaged the vessel’s hull, authorities said.

The apparent strike on the Al Salmi tanker is just the latest in a string of assaults on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation this morning said that the ​Al ⁠Salmi was struck in an Iranian attack while anchored at Dubai port in the United Arab Emirates, causing damage to the vessel and a fire onboard. It warned of a possible ⁠oil spill in surrounding waters, Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA reported.

Dubai authorities said maritime firefighting teams ​successfully put out ⁠the blaze, which was sparked by a ‌drone attack and continued to assess the situation, adding that no injuries were reported and all 24 crew members were safe.

Patients have been advised “not to worry” about medicine supply concerns despite potential links to the conflict in Iran.

While reassurances are offered, pharmacy bodies are noting early warning signs.

The Independent Pharmacies Association warned the UK faces a “perfect storm of factors exacerbating medicine shortages.”

US president Donald Trump has threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached “shortly”.

Trump said the US is negotiating with Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, in an interview with the New York Post.

The former Revolutionary Guard commander was previously floated as Washington’s negotiating partner, but has denied Iran is talking to the US and said Pakistan-facilitated discussions were merely a cover for American troop deployments.

Meanwhile, Israel has invaded southern Lebanon to push out Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, who have fired rockets and drones across the border, in a campaign that Israeli officials suggest could become a prolonged occupation. Three UN peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon in less than 24 hours, but it’s unclear who was responsible.

US stocks edged higher in shaky trading Monday as oil prices keep climbing because of uncertainty about when the war could end.

US President Donald Trump has told his aides he’s willing to end the Iran war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing administration officials.

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil, as the US and Israel continue their attacks against the Middle Eastern country.

Trump has decided to use diplomatic measures to resume the free flow of oil and, as a second resort, urge allies in Europe and the Gulf to spearhead the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report.

Images of the wrecked US Air Force E-3 Sentry aircraft show a broken tail that appears to have been severed entirely from the body of the plane.

The Boeing aircraft — a key part of the military’s airborne warning and control system, or AWACS — is capable of tracking hundreds of targets at a time while monitoring thousands of square miles. The plane itself serves as an airborne command post with a distinctive rotating radar dome above the fuselage.

Images of the plane’s destruction surfaced over the weekend following a strike on a Saudi Arabia air base on 27 March. Several US service members were injured in the attack.

The loss of one in a fleet of 17 AWACS amounts to “a serious blow” to American surveillance capabilities, according to CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton, a former Air Force colonel who has flown on the aircraft.

The oil market has all but discounted the prospect of a negotiated end to the war and “is bracing for a sharp escalation in military ‌hostilities,” said Vandana Hari of oil-market provider Vanda Insights.

The International ​Monetary Fund warned that war in the Middle East has caused serious disruption to the economies ‌of frontline countries, and is dimming the outlook for many economies that had just started ​to recover from previous crises.

G7 finance leaders also said they were ready to take “all necessary measures” to safeguard energy market stability and limit broader economic spillovers from recent volatility.

The US national gas price average has spiked to $4 per gallon amid the Iran war, according to a company that provides real-time fuel cost data.

“The national average has just reached $4/gal according to GasBuddy, the highest since August 8, 2022”, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote on X.

“The rise is now the largest monthly increase GasBuddy has ever recorded: $1.059/gal for gasoline, $1.701/gal for diesel,” he added.