Israeli defense chief says killing of Iranian naval commander behind Strait of Hormuz closure confirmed
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that an Israeli airstrike had killed Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ navy, confirming earlier reports by Israeli media.
“Last night, in a precise and lethal operation, the IDF eliminated the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ navy, Tangsiri, along with senior officers of the naval command,” Katz said in a video statement.
“The man who was directly responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to shipping was blown up and eliminated.”
The IRGC is thought to be largely in charge of Iran’s war effort, including the ongoing missile and drone attacks on Gulf states and the drone strikes on commercial vessels that have kept the strait unpassable for most international vessels for the past 26 days.
Just two days ago Tangsiri announced that a container ship heading from the Port of Sharjah in the UAE was “turned back for failing to comply with legal protocols and lacking authorization to transit the Strait of Hormuz.”
The attacks on ships notably appear to have stopped over the last week, with the most recent confirmed incident reported by the U.K. military’s Maritime Trade Operations center coming on March 19.
CBS/AFP
Roller coaster ride for stocks and energy prices continues amid mixed messages from Tehran and D.C.
Asian stocks traded lower and oil prices rose back to around $100 per barrel on Thursday as any deescalation in the Iran war remained deeply uncertain.
U.S. futures were down 0.5%. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.3% lower at 53,603.65. South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.2% to 5,460.46. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.9% to 24,856.43, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.1% to 3,889.08.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged down 0.1%, while Taiwan’s Taiex was trading 0.3% lower.
Oil prices were up again on Thursday, meanwhile. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.3% to $100.41 per barrel. It was below $95 on Wednesday. Benchmark U.S. crude was 3.8% higher at $93.74 a barrel.
With the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway between Iran and Oman where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through, remaining largely closed after the Iran war began, oil prices have fluctuated, climbing around 40% since the beginning of the war, which is now in its fourth week.
Wall Street stocks had closed higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite rising 0.8%.
CBS/AP
Israeli soldier killed amid ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
An Israeli soldier was killed in fighting in south Lebanon on Thursday, the military said, after the army announced it was conducting ground operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
“Staff sergeant Ori Greenberg, aged 21, from Petah Tikva, a soldier of the Reconnaissance unit, Golani Brigade, fell during combat in southern Lebanon,” the military said.
In total, three Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in south Lebanon since Hezbollah drew the country into war by launching rocket attacks against Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
Israel says Iranian naval commander Alireza Tangsiri killed in targeted strike
Israeli news outlets, including the Times of Israel, cited anonymous sources on Thursday as saying the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps naval forces, Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, was killed in the latest targeted assassination by Israeli forces.
The Channel 12 network said Tangsiri was killed along with all other senior members of the IRGC’s naval command.
The Israeli military did not immediately confirm the reports, but it has killed dozens of senior Iranian military commanders since the war began on Feb. 28., and Tangsiri was among the most important Iranian figures behind the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
Just two days ago he announced that a container ship heading from the Port of Sharjah in the UAE was “turned back for failing to comply with legal protocols and lacking authorization to transit the Strait of Hormuz.”
The IRGC is thought to be largely in charge of Iran’s war effort, including the ongoing missile and drone attacks on Gulf states and the drone strikes on commercial vessels that have kept the strait unpassable for most international vessels for the past 26 days.
Those attacks on ships notably appear to have stopped over the last week, with the most recent confirmed incident reported by the U.K. military’s Maritime Trade Operations center coming on March 19.
2 killed in UAE by debris from intercepted Iranian missile
Two people were killed Thursday by debris from an Iranian ballistic missile intercepted near Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, while Saudi Arabia said it shot down at least 18 drones, and Kuwait reported a new missile and drone attack.
Iran has targeted Gulf nations it accuses of serving as launchpads for US strikes, notably with hits on energy sites that have sent markets into a tailspin, threatening lasting damage to the global economy.
CBS/AFP
Asian nations heavily reliant on Gulf oil and gas forced to roll out emergency economic measures
South Korea will roll out a $17 billion “wartime” supplementary budget and expand fuel tax cuts as the war in Iran pushes up energy prices, the government said Thursday.
“The government will draw up a supplementary budget worth 25 trillion won next month — funded by excess tax revenue — in response to the prolonged Middle East conflict,” the government said in a statement.
South Korea imports roughly 70% of its crude oil from the Gulf region, so, like many of its Asian neighbors, it is impacted by not only the rise in global energy prices due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but directly by the shorter-term halt to supplies.
Japan said it had started to release another part of its strategic oil reserves Thursday as it looked to temper the impact on the resource-poor nation from the surge in prices caused by the war. Japan is the fifth-biggest importer of oil – more than 90% of which comes from the Middle East.
A ship carrying more than 700,000 barrels of Russian crude oil arrived in the Philippines, a source told AFP on Thursday, days after the Southeast Asian country declared a national energy emergency over the Iran war.
CBS/AFP
Trump says he doesn’t want to call Iran conflict a “war” because of need for congressional approval
President Trump said late Wednesday he’s avoiding describing the military conflict in Iran as a “war” because of concerns around the fact that Congress hasn’t authorized a war.
“I won’t use the word ‘war’ because they say, if you use the word war, that’s maybe not a good thing to do,” the president said at an event for House Republicans’ fundraising arm. “They don’t like the word ‘war,’ because you’re supposed to get approval, so I’ll use the word military operation, which is really what it is.”
Mr. Trump has still occasionally called it a war, including during Wednesday’s speech, when he said, “The war essentially ended a few days after we went in.”
Trump insists Iran is negotiating, “but they’re afraid to say it”
President Trump insisted Wednesday that Iran was taking part in peace talks, suggesting Tehran’s denials were because Iranian negotiators fear being killed by their own side.
“They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly. But they’re afraid to say it, because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” Mr. Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress.
CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper says Operation Epic Fury is “on plan or ahead of plan”
CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a video statement Wednesday that the military operation in Iran remains “on plan or ahead of plan.”
Cooper said the U.S. has struck more than 10,000 military targets as of Wednesday, and that Israel has struck “thousands more.” Cooper also claimed the U.S. has destroyed “92% of the Iranian navy’s largest vessels.”
“My operational assessment is they have now lost the ability to meaningfully project naval power and influence around the region and around the world,” he said.
Cooper said the U.S. has damaged or destroyed more than two-thirds of Iran’s missiles, drone and naval production facilities and shipyards.
Leavitt says talks with Iran are continuing, despite Tehran’s reported rejection
Leavitt said the United States and Iran are still engaged in peace talks, despite Iranian state media reporting Tehran had rejected Washington’s plan to end the war.
“Talks continue. They are productive,” Leavitt said when asked about the Iranian report, adding that there were “elements of truth” to media reports on the details of a 15-point U.S. plan setting out demands on Tehran.
Trump to “unleash hell” if Iran doesn’t make deal, White House says
President Trump is ready to “unleash hell” on Iran if Tehran does not accept a deal to end the war in the Middle East, the White House warned on Wednesday.
“If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing.
“President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell,” Leavitt said. “Iran should not miscalculate again.”