TEHRAN — Gulf countries and Israel came under missile fire and Israeli forces struck Iran on Saturday, as the war raged into its second month.
In a sign that the conflict may be expanding further, Israel's military said air defenses responded to a missile launched from Yemen — the first since the start of the war on Feb. 28, and after threats from Iran's Houthi allies to launch attacks.
The war began when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes across Iran, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and more than a thousand civilians, sending shockwaves across the globe.
A month later, the conflict showed no sign of ending, with Israel announcing fresh strikes on Tehran, where an AFP journalist saw 10 intense blasts and a plume of black smoke.
Emirati authorities said debris from a successful missile interception started fires at an Abu Dhabi industrial zone, injuring five Indian nationals.
Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a missile and several drones, and Bahrain said a blaze caused by the "Iranian aggression" had been brought under control.
In Israel, repeated air raid sirens sent people to shelters, including in Tel Aviv, where one man was killed, and two others were wounded, and in the country's north, where media reported a simultaneous attack from Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
An Iranian missile and drone attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia wounded at least 12 American soldiers, two of them seriously, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified officials.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said Friday he believes Iran would hold talks with Washington "this week, we're certainly hopeful for it."
Hormuz Strait closed to ‘enemies’
One major issue has been the near-closure of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, which has sent markets into turmoil and pushed oil prices to levels not seen since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels traveling to and from ports linked to its "enemies."
"This morning, following the lies of the corrupt US president claiming that the Strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities... were turned back after a warning from the IRGC Navy," the Guards said on their Sepah News website.
"The movement of any vessel 'to and from' ports of origin belonging to allies and supporters of the Zionist-American enemies, to any destination and through any corridor, is prohibited," it added.
The move raises fresh doubt about which vessels are able to transit the strategic waterway, which is a conduit for a fifth of world oil and gas supplies in normal times, as well as other vital products.
A total of 34 ships have been approved by Iran to transit the strait recently, using a route around Larak Island just off the country's coast, according to analysts at leading shipping journal Lloyd's List — which dubs the system the "Tehran toll booth."
Most were Greek- and Chinese-owned, as well as other Indian-, Pakistani- and Syrian-owned vessels, the journal said.
Energy market intelligence firm Kpler said it identified two container ships belonging to Chinese firm Cosco that had attempted to cross the strait on Friday but had turned around.
The developments "suggest the situation remains highly unstable," Kpler data analyst Rebecca Gerdes said in a statement.
Thai deal
Thailand, meanwhile, said it has reached an agreement with Iran.
“An agreement has been reached to allow Thai oil tankers to transit safely through the Strait of Hormuz," Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said at a press conference, adding the development would alleviate concerns over fuel imports.
"With this agreement in place, there is greater confidence that disruptions like those seen in early March will not recur," he added.
More than 80 percent of the crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) that passes through the Strait of Hormuz heads to Asia, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Much of Southeast Asia is bearing the brunt of fuel supply difficulties, and long lines at gasoline stations in Thailand have become increasingly frequent."
In Manila, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian called on the government to initiate negotiations with Tehran.
“In light of the ongoing surge in the price of petroleum products, which has already caused significant disruptions on the domestic front, I strongly urge the executive department to engage in high-level discussions with Iran to secure safe passage of Philippine-bound oil vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and ensure they are recognized as neutral entities,” Gatchalian said.
'Dangerous to the world'
Trump reiterated his disappointment with NATO allies over their refusal to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had won G7 support to oppose Iran's attempts to impose a toll on the key sea lane for Gulf oil and gas exports.
"It's unacceptable, it's dangerous to the world, and it's important that the world have a plan to confront it," said Rubio, who joined a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in France.
The G7 ministers expressed the "absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation" in the waterway and called for "an immediate cessation of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure."
Rubio declared that Washington expects its military campaign to prove victorious within weeks.
"When we are done with them here in the next couple of weeks, they will be weaker than they've been in recent history," he told reporters.
Iran had sent "messages" to the American side but had not formally responded to the 15-point plan, Rubio said.
While Trump has extended his deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on energy assets to April 6, Iranian media reported strikes on Friday on three Iranian nuclear facilities and two steel plants, with officials saying there was no radioactive release.
Israel confirmed it had struck the Khondab heavy water complex and a uranium processing plant in Ardakan, while the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had informed it of another strike on the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatened retaliation "for Israeli crimes" in a post on X, saying the attacks contradicted Trump's "extended deadline for diplomacy."
Israel's military reported at least five rounds of Iranian missile fire within just over five hours, and a statement early Saturday said Israeli forces were "striking Iranian terror regime targets across Tehran."
'Fingers on the trigger'
Trump, swinging between threats of obliteration and optimistic talk of dealmaking, has insisted the Islamic Republic wants to "make a deal."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they would strike industrial sites across the region, having earlier issued similar warnings for US military bases and hotels hosting American troops.
Iranian strikes have shattered the Gulf's reputation for stability, hitting Dubai's airport, Bahrain's capital, and energy facilities across the region during the course of the war.
Yemen's Houthi rebels, which did not immediately comment on the missile fire reported by Israel, had warned on Friday they would join the war if US-Israeli attacks on ally Iran continued or if more countries joined the conflict.
The Houthis have in the past attacked shipping in the Red Sea in response to regional conflicts, but had so far not intervened in the latest war.
"We affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention," the group said in a statement.
Tehran also called for an end to US and Israeli attacks on aligned regional groups — a reference to Hezbollah, among others, Tasnim reported.
Lebanon was drawn into the war after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2.
Israel renewed strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs Friday, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. The UN refugee agency warned Lebanon faced a deepening humanitarian crisis, risking catastrophe, with over a million people displaced.
AFPTV footage showed smoke rising from the Beirut suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold largely emptied after previous Israeli evacuation warnings and heavy strikes.
Red Sea threat
Trump said Thursday that Iran had allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a "present" to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war. But a senior analyst at Lloyd’s List, Bridget Diakun, said, “We don’t see that. Unless he's talking about the ships that are in the shadow fleet... I have no idea what he's talking about."
The US and Iran have been exchanging proposals this week to end the conflict via intermediary Pakistan, but no direct talks have been confirmed.
Some analysts believe the discussions are doomed to fail, or could be a smokescreen for Trump as he prepares a ground offensive to reopen the strait by force or seize Iranian oil assets.
Thousands of US paratroopers and extra Marines are heading to the region.