Oil prices exceed $100 as Khamenei urges attacks on US, Israel

Strait of Hormuz  – (Web Desk) – Oil prices stayed around $100 on Friday as most stock markets fell. The drop came after Iran’s new leader warned about blocking the Strait of Hormuz and opening new fronts against the US and Israel.

The conflict is now in its third week. Investors are worried it could last longer, pushing inflation up and hurting the global economy.

This week, Iran targeted energy sites across the Gulf. Ships near Iraq were hit, fuel tanks in Bahrain attacked, and drones fired at Saudi oilfields. Tehran warned that it could “set the region’s oil and gas on fire” if its own ports or facilities are attacked.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei spoke publicly for the first time since becoming Iran’s leader. He said the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, must stay closed. He also warned US bases in the region could face attacks.

Khamenei said other fronts could open where enemies are weak, if the war continues. He vowed to take revenge for Iranian casualties. Reports said he was injured in recent strikes, though details of his condition are unclear. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on him to “show his face.”

Oil surged more than 9% on Thursday, with Brent crude ending above $100 for the first time since 2022. Since the Middle East conflict began on February 28, Brent has risen about 40%. Analysts said the huge 400 million barrel release from the International Energy Agency had little effect.

The IEA said the war is causing the largest disruption in global oil supply in history.

Video from northern Israel captured the moment an Iranian missile impacted a residential area early Friday morning injuring 33 people, according to Israeli news reports. pic.twitter.com/TMgOAbTy7Q

— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) March 13, 2026

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has faced intense political pressure as the global economic fallout of the crisis has mounted, while markets have brushed off his assertions that the battle would be short-lived.

The US president struck a defiant tone in a social media post Thursday, writing that the United States “is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money”.

“BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World.”

However, Pepper stone’s Chris Weston said: “With crude closing near its highs, markets are increasingly pricing in a longer duration for the conflict and the continued impact of a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Donald Trump may continue to explore the idea of assisting vessels through the strait, and if that were to materialize the market could see a strong relief rally.

“For now, however, the dominant features are higher energy prices and extremely elevated volatility markets.”

Siren was heard early on Friday at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase, a key NATO facility where US troops are stationed near the southeastern city of Adana, state news agency Anadolu reported.

There was no immediate official comment on the incident, which took place four days after NATO air defences shot down a ballistic missile in Turkish airspace that was fired from Iran, the second in five days.

A building in central Dubai was hit by debris from an intercepted attack, the government media office said on Friday, after blasts shook the Middle East financial hub.

An AFP correspondent described hearing a huge double blast that rattled buildings and left a large cloud of black smoke hanging over a central district.

Dubai’s media office confirmed a building had been struck. The United Arab Emirates’ air defences have intercepted more than 1,500 Iranian drones and nearly 300 missiles during the Middle East war.

“Authorities confirmed that debris from a successful interception caused a minor incident on the facade of a building in central Dubai,” the media office posted on X, adding that no injuries were reported.

The latest incident comes after a drone fell near Dubai’s financial district on Thursday. Iran had threatened to hit economic institutions, prompting some companies to evacuate staff from the area.

The oil-rich UAE and other countries in the wealthy Gulf have come under constant Iranian fire since the war started on February 28.

Dubai’s airport, one of the world’s biggest, has been repeatedly targeted as well as its port and luxury real estate including the Palm Jumeirah and Burj Al Arab hotel.

A French soldier was killed in an attack in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, confirming the first French military death in the Middle East war.

Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran last month engulfed the Middle East in war, multiple attacks attributed to pro-Iranian factions have targeted the region where foreign forces are based as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition.

The Israeli military said early Friday that Iran fired a new barrage of missiles toward Israel, with emergency services reporting that two were injured in the country’s north.

“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military posted on Telegram.

Saudi Arabia intercepted dozens of drones entering its airspace, the defence ministry said Friday, as Iran carries out attacks on oil-rich Gulf countries in response to US-Israeli strikes.

“Twelve drones were intercepted and destroyed after entering Saudi airspace,” a ministry spokesperson posted on X, after authorities reported at least 16 other drones were also shot down.

US President Donald Trump told reporters the war against Iran was moving “very rapidly.”

“It’s doing very well, our military is unsurpassed,” he said at the White House, not directly responding to the latest comments from Iran’s new supreme leader.

Israel’s military said it had struck checkpoints set up in the Iranian capital Tehran by the Basij paramilitary force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as part of efforts to undermine control by the authorities.

Later, the Israeli military said it launched a new broad wave of strikes in Tehran on Thursday evening, pressing ahead with its campaign against Iran for a 13th day.

Air strikes killed at least 11 Iran-backed fighters in Iraq on Thursday near the Iraqi-Syrian border and in the capital Baghdad, senior security and armed faction officials told AFP.

Iraqi authorities denounced the “blatant attacks” on bases that belong to the Hashed al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary group now integrated into the regular army, which also encompasses brigades from Iran-backed armed groups.

Iran is not laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, its deputy foreign minister said, after Trump said US forces had struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the waterway.

He told AFP that Iran was allowing ships from some countries to cross the narrow shipping lane that has remained effectively closed during the war.

Israel continued striking Beirut as it threatened to expand operations and seize territory in Lebanon if the militant group Hezbollah did not stop its attacks.

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AFPTV footage showed dark smoke rising into the sky above Bashoura, in the heart of Beirut.

The war “is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”, as Iran’s chokehold on regional supplies forces Gulf producers to slash production, the International Energy Agency said.

An IEA market report said crude oil production was currently down by at least eight million barrels per day.

The Israeli military moved further into southern Lebanon, telling residents to “move immediately north of the Zahrani River”, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Israeli border.

It said the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah had launched “approximately 200 rockets” towards it overnight, in what it said was the biggest barrage of the war so far.