Iran and Israel vow to fight as markets react to Trump saying war must end “very quickly”

The ship may have been attacked by an Iranian in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, off the coast of the capital of the United Arab Emirates, according to an advisory from the British merchant marine.

A day after President Trump issued a new warning to Iran to stop blocking the flow of crude oil through the vital shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz, an apparent attack on a bulk carrier not far west of the Strait’s western entrance could signal an increase in the Islamic Republic’s attacks against shipping in the region.

The United Kingdom’s Maritime Trade Operations Center said the captain of the cargo ship reported seeing “a bump and heard a loud noise near” the ship, which was not immediately identified.

Iran launched a new offensive on Tuesday in the Gulf Arab states as it continues its pressure on the region.

Incoming missiles rang out early in the morning in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia said it destroyed two drones in the oil-rich east and Kuwait’s National Guard said it shot down six drones.

Another strike by Iranian planes attacked a residential building in the capital of Bahrain, Manama, overnight, killing a 29-year-old woman and injuring eight others, the country’s Ministry of Interior said.

The UAE ministry blamed the deaths on “unprovoked Iranian aggression against a residential complex in Manama.”

Iran has repeatedly struck Bahrain, which hosts the US 5th Fleet.

Israeli airstrikes hit southern and eastern Lebanon overnight, media reported Tuesday, as Israel targeted the Lebanese group Hezbollah, a powerful proxy of Iran.

In addition to firing missiles and drones at Israel and US bases in the region, Iran has been targeting energy infrastructure, which combined with its hold on the Strait of Hormuz, sent oil prices soaring earlier this week.

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The United Arab Emirates said its embassy in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil was targeted by flooding on Tuesday, after Iran vowed to continue attacking US interests and allies in the region.

“The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned and condemned the unauthorized terrorist attack against the UAE Consulate General in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, which resulted in material damage without any reported injuries,” the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, adding that “such actions represent a dangerous escalation and a threat to the security and stability of the region.”

The government of the Iraqi autonomous region of Kurdistan also issued a statement strongly condemning what they called illegal attacks targeting people, public institutions, and diplomatic missions, citing the overnight attack by the UAE.

The US military has a large number of troops and hardware deployed at bases at Erbil’s international airport and just outside the city, and there is also a US embassy in the city. US bases have been targeted by Iranian drones since the start of the war, but there have been no casualties.

“I don’t think talking to the Americans is going to be on our agenda,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS News on Monday, adding that Tehran had a “very painful experience” during previous talks with the US.

Iran responded to the US-Israeli attacks with drones and missiles targeting Israeli and US interests and the Gulf Arab states throughout the region. Shipping traffic in the Strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s crude oil normally travels, has come to a standstill.

The Iranian military has repeatedly targeted oil tankers passing through the strategic road since the war began.

In an interview with PBS News, Araghchi stressed that Iran is acting “on the defensive,” and stressed that the Islamic Republic is “ready to continue attacking them with our missiles as long as it is needed and as long as it takes.”

CBS/AFP

The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of Iran scoffed at President Trump’s apparent request to reduce the economic impact of the war, warning: “The Iranian military … will not allow the export of a single liter of oil from the region to the hostile side and its allies until further recognition.”

“We will decide the end of the war,” said the IRGC, which is considered close to Iran’s new leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in a statement released by Iranian state media. “The balance and future of the region is now in the hands of our armed forces. The US military will not end the war.”

Mr. Trump indicated Monday that he will decide when the war will end and threatened to strike Iran “TWICE HARDER than it has been hit so far” if it continues to block the passage of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s military offensive against Iran is “not over yet,” saying the operation discredits Iran’s clerical leadership.

“Our desire is to bring the Iranian people to throw off the yoke of dictatorship; in the end, it depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones – and we are not done yet,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the National Health Command Center on Monday night, according to a statement published on Tuesday.

Netanyahu’s speech came after somewhat mixed signals from the Trump administration. President Trump said on Monday that the war will be “over soon” and that America’s intentions are “perfectly complete.”

Asked about the Pentagon’s deployment of X on the same day, “We’ve just begun to fight,” Mr. Trump said: “I think you can say both. In the beginning, it’s the beginning of building a new country.”

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President Trump said he was the only one in his administration to suggest that Iran blow up a girls’ school “because I don’t know enough about it.”

Initial US testing suggests that the US was “likely” to cause a fatal attack but he didn’t intentionally target the school and may have accidentally hit it, a person first briefed on the intelligence told CBS News.

“It’s something I was told is being investigated,” said Mr. “But Tomahawks are used by others. … Lots of other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us.”

Mr. Trump said he would accept “whatever” the investigation shows.

“I am determined to live by that report,” he said.

Without providing evidence, the president said on Saturday that the US believed the bombing was “done by Iran” and cited information he had seen.

President Trump has warned Iran against blocking the Strait of Hormuz, an important hub for the world’s oil industry, as war with Iran has brought shipping to a standstill – causing oil prices to rise since the war began.

“If Iran does anything to block the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz, it will be hit by the United States of America TWICE HARDER than it has been hit so far,” he said on his Truth Social forum. “Furthermore, we will release targets of easy destruction that will make it difficult for Iran to rebuild, as a Nation, and – Death, Fire, and Fury will rule over them – But I hope, and pray, that it will not happen!”

Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to increase strikes on Iran if it interferes with the Strait of Hormuz, which is between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula and carries about 20% of the world’s oil. Earlier on Monday, he told CBS News that he was considering taking the waterway.

Vice President JD Vance participated in the honorable mention of Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, the seventh member of the United States killed in the US-Iran war.

Vance flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for Pennington’s remains. The vice president was seen greeting during the event, accompanied by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.

A native of Kentucky, Pennington is 26 years old was assigned in the 1st Space Battalion in Colorado. He was wounded in an attack on March 1 in Saudi Arabia and died of his injuries a week later, according to the Pentagon.

Honorable mentions for six other US service members who were killed last weekend, by President Trump was there.