The Latest: Crude oil hits $100 a barrel as Iran vows to keep fighting after 6,000 US airstrikes

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement on the war on Thursday, saying Iran should close the Strait of Hormuz and keep attacking its Gulf Arab neighbors as leverage. Khamenei also called on people in Gulf countries to “shut down” U.S. bases, saying promised U.S. protection is “nothing more than a lie.”

An Iranian ambassador said Khamenei was injured in the war’s opening salvo, which the Iranian leader said killed his wife, one of his sisters, his niece and his father, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As American and Israeli strikes pound the Islamic Republic and Iran attacks Persian Gulf shipping and energy infrastructure with no sign of an end to the war, oil prices have soared back above $100 a barrel.

U.S. President Donald Trump promised to “finish the job,” even as Iran is “virtually destroyed.” The first week of war cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon. The U.N. refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced, and authorities in Lebanon say 800,000 have been forced from their homes as Israel’s military destroys buildings linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

Here's the latest:

The soldiers were injured Thursday in the Irbil region of Iraq, the French military said, and were immediately taken to the nearest medical center.

They were engaged in counterterrorism training operations with Iraqi partners at the time, according to the military. No other details were provided.

French troops are in Iraq as part of a multinational counterterrorism mission supporting local forces in their fight against Islamic State militants.

Rescue efforts are underway after a U.S. military refueling plane went down in Iraq, U.S. Central Command said Thursday,

The KC-135 aircraft is part of the operation against Iran, but the crash was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire, the military said.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement that two aircraft were involved in the incident. One landed safely, while the other went down in western Iraq.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a developing situation, said the other plane involved also was a KC-135 tanker.

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This item has been corrected to show that the U.S. Central Command statement doesn’t say the refueling aircraft belongs to the Air Force.

One attack on the village of Erkay, in the Sidon district, killed nine people, including five children, Lebanon’s health ministry said, adding that seven others were wounded.

An AP photographer who visited the scene found several buildings flattened and widespread destruction. Rescue workers searched through the rubble.

Two other Israeli strikes on separate towns in southern Lebanon killed six more, the ministry said.

Israel’s renewed offensive in Lebanon began March 2 after Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel during the early days of the war triggered by the U.S. and Israel’s attack on Iran.

The Defense Department said in a statement that its efforts to reduce civilian harm are “currently undergoing a strategic reassessment to inform its future reorganization.”

AP has reported that outdated intelligence likely led to the United States carrying out a missile strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed over 165 people, many of them children.

The Pentagon did not address media reports and critics who said that the military slashed the size of its mission central to civilian protection and that the emphasis on updating intelligence had come to a near halt.

The statement did acknowledge, however, that a “reorganization” was being conducted and that functions to reduce civilian casualties have been “streamlined” directly into the operations of combatant commands.

“Iran has an inherent right to preserve the peace and security in the Strait of Hormuz, and it is our responsibility,” Amir Saeid Iravani, Tehran’s envoy to the U.N., told reporters Thursday.

His comments come a few hours after Iran’s new supreme leader issued his first statement on the war, saying that the leverage of closing the strategic waterway should be used in the ongoing war with Israel and the U.S.

Iran’s attacks on shipping during the war have effectively closed the strait.

At least 18 instances in which Israel struck checkpoints operated by Iran’s paramilitary Basij forces, mostly in the capital, were documented on Wednesday alone by Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, the U.S-based group known as ACLED.

ACLED said the strikes may be aimed at stoking unrest among the security forces, who play a key role in suppressing dissent.

Since the start of the war, ACLED said at least 30% of its recorded U.S. and Israeli strikes have targeted Iran’s system of internal control, including police stations and sites used by intelligence and Revolutionary Guard forces involved in domestic security.

Israel’s prime minister said Thursday that his country was trying to create the conditions for Iranians to rise up against the government. However, hundreds of thousands of people work for the internal security forces across the country, ACLED said.

With no clear end in sight, the war with Iran sent oil prices back to $100 per barrel on Thursday, and stocks sank worldwide.

The S&P 500 fell 1.5% and resumed its sharp swings following a couple days of relative calm. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 739 points, or 1.6%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.8%.

The center of action was again the oil market, where the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 9.2% to settle at $100.46. Worries are worsening that the war could block the production of oil in the Persian Gulf for a long time and cause a debilitating surge of inflation for the global economy.

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At least four of Iran’s nearly 30 historical sites, including palaces and an ancient mosque, have sustained damage from U.S. and Israeli strikes during the war.

The speed and extent of the damage made Iran and Lebanon so concerned that they sent a request this week to the United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO, to add more sites to its enhanced protection list.

UNESCO said it shared site coordinates with combatants beforehand to help avoid damage, but warned that modern conflicts increasingly endanger civilians, infrastructure and cultural heritage.

One nonprofit group has pointed to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying last week that America’s approach to the war would not include “stupid rules of engagement.”

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Israeli attacks killed one senior scientist involved in developing nuclear weapons and hit several other Irani scientists, the prime minister said as he took questions Thursday from reporters for the first time since this war began.

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This item has been updated to correct that Netanyahu said Israeli attacks killed a top Iranian nuclear scientist, not multiple scientists.

“It is not a serious injury and he is recovering,” Mir Masoud Hosseinian, Iran’s ambassador to Tunisia, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.

Iranian officials have released little information about Khamenei's condition, although an Israeli intelligence assessment suggests he was wounded in the war’s opening strikes. He did not appear on television Thursday when his first statement as supreme leader was read by a news anchor.

Hosseinian also denounced the countries hosting U.S. bases in the Gulf and said they had exposed themselves to the conflict.

“We will decide how this war ends,” he said.

At a news conference Thursday night, the Israeli prime minister denounced Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, as a “puppet of the Revolutionary Guards” who cannot appear in public.

And he addressed the Iranian people, saying the moment for a “new path of freedom” was approaching and Israel stands with them.

“But at the end of the day, it depends on you. It is in your hands,” he said.

Netanyahu says the U.S.-Israeli strikes against the country are an effort to give Iranians “the space needed to go out to the streets.”

Israel and the U.S. have given conflicting answers about what exactly the war’s objectives are and what the endgame is.

As Netanyahu was speaking, Israel’s military said it had detected a new barrage of missiles launched from Iran toward Israel.

An attack on a base in northern Iraq resulted in no significant injuries to American personnel, a U.S. defense official said Thursday.

The official, who wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the U.S. personnel are still on duty after Wednesday’s attack.

British military officials said earlier Thursday that several U.S. personnel were injured in drone strikes at a base in Irbil that houses both British and American troops.

The U.K. and U.S. military officials did not specify if the wounded were American troops.

Iran’s parliament speaker warned on Thursday that attacks on the Persian Gulf islands on Iran’s southern maritime frontier would provoke a new level of retaliation, underscoring how central they are to the country’s economy and security.

In a social media post, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Iran “will abandon all restraint” if the islands come under attack and said Trump will be responsible for “the blood of American soldiers.”

Kharg Island, Qeshm Island, and the tiny islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunb carry outsized importance because of their oil facilities and strategic location. “A direct strike would immediately halt the bulk of Iran’s crude exports, likely triggering severe retaliation,” JPMorgan said in an investment note this week.

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Gen. Alexus Grynkewich told lawmakers on a Senate committee that the precious weapons systems have been moved from Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean to protect NATO allies. He also said “we do have a robust set of air defenses in the Middle East.”

The general was pressed on the issue by Sen. Angus King, and independent from Maine, who cited Ukraine’s need for such weapons systems to defend against Russia.

Democratic lawmakers have argued Trump is waging a “war of choice” as munitions for missile defense systems diminish. The Trump administration has repeatedly said American forces have all the weapons they need.

A top Pentagon official addressed concerns Thursday that outdated intelligence likely led to a deadly American missile strike on an Iranian school.

Gen. Alexus Grynkewich spoke at a Senate committee hearing on European operations. But Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., pressed the head of European Command on the strike and on staffing cuts at a Pentagon office that focuses on reducing civilian casualties.

“We have robust standards that we go through, and look to see and update the imagery, and update our understanding of the target and refresh the intelligence on a recurring basis to determine the chances of civilian harm,” he said.

The Israeli strike that hit in the vicinity of Lebanon’s only public university killed the director of the faculty of sciences Hussein Bazzi and professor Mortada Srour.

The campus is in Hadath, on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs, which Israel had warned last week should be evacuated. It was not clear whether the campus was directly targeted, but smoke could be seen rising near the building’s courtyard in the aftermath. Israel had no immediate comment.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the bombing, which he said targeted the campus, as a crime and a “violation of international laws and norms that prohibit attacks on educational institutions and civilians.”

Pro-Iranian hackers targeting sites in the Middle East are starting to stretch into the United States, raising risks that American defense contractors, power stations and water plants could be swept into the Iran war’s digital chaos.

Hackers supporting Iran claimed responsibility for a significant cyberattack Wednesday against U.S. medical device company Stryker. They’ve also tried to penetrate cameras in Middle Eastern countries to improve Iran’s missile targeting, and hit data centers in the region, industrial facilities in Israel, a school in Saudi Arabia and an airport in Kuwait.

“Something is going to happen because the gloves are off,” said Kevin Mandia, founder of the cybersecurity companies Mandiant and Armadin.

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Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement on the war Thursday — read by a state television news anchor — vowing to avenge not just the killings of his father and other leaders by the U.S. and Israel, but that of every Iranian who has died in this war.

“I assure everyone that we will not refrain from avenging the blood of your martyrs,” his statement said. “The retaliation we have in mind is not limited only to the martyrdom of the great leader of the Revolution; rather, every member of the nation who is martyred by the enemy constitutes a separate case in the file of revenge.”

▶ Read more of Khamenei’s comments

The Iran war threatens some of the world’s most critical oil and gas infrastructure — the pipelines, refineries, and shipping terminals that keep energy flowing from the Persian Gulf region to the global economy.

Strikes by Iranian drones and missiles have disrupted some operations, while the risk of Iranian strikes has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for some 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Oil fields in the region have cut back output as storage fills up.

All that is raising the cost of everything that needs fuel made from crude: flying, cooking, heating homes, running factories, transporting goods, and farming.

▶ Read about the key infrastructure at risk.

Israel’s military said Thursday night it had begun another wave of strikes on Lebanon’s capital, saying it was targeting Hezbollah sites.

It came after Israeli strikes earlier Thursday hit a building in a busy residential and commercial district in central Beirut, close to the prime minister’s office, the U.N. building and foreign embassies.

The U.S. military said Thursday that American forces have now struck more than 6,000 targets since the operation against Iran began Feb. 28, including 30-plus minelaying vessels. It's aiming to prevent Iranian threats from closing oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The war in Iran has ground tanker traffic through the chokepoint to a halt and oil prices have been swinging sharply. The Islamic Republic vowed to prevent "even a single liter' of oil from reaching its enemies and their allies.

The 1920s law is often blamed for making gas more expensive. It requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be moved on U.S.-flagged vessels, and is designed to protect the American shipbuilding sector.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that temporarily waiving the requirement could “ensure vital energy products and agricultural necessities are flowing freely to U.S. ports.” The action has not been finalized, she said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the U.S.-Israeli military strikes, followed by Iran’s retaliatory attacks, have caused “immense suffering” and pushed the region to a breaking point.

“And as always, the most vulnerable are being hurt first and worst,” Guterres said. “De-escalation and dialogue are the only way out.”

He made the comments in the Turkish capital where he received the country’s peace prize on behalf of global U.N. staff.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz told the U.N. Security Council that Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to produce and accumulate uranium enriched up to 60%, which is near weapons-grade.

The United Kingdom’s acting ambassador, James Kariuki, said there is “no credible civilian justification” for Iran possessing more than 400 kilograms (about 880 pounds) of highly enriched uranium, adding the stockpile erodes confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program and led to the “snapback” of U.N. sanctions last September.

But Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the U.S. and its allies of whipping up “hysteria” about Iran seeking a nuclear weapon to justify “yet another military venture against Tehran” and escalate tensions.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said Iran has repeatedly reaffirmed it does not seek nuclear weapons and that its “sincerity should be taken seriously.”

The multistory building is in a busy residential and commercial district in central Beirut, close to the prime minister’s office, the U.N. building and foreign embassies.

The strike came soon after Israel’s Arabic-language spokesperson issued a warning on X for residents to evacuate 300 meters (1,000 feet) away from the building, which it said was near a Hezbollah target. This was the first strike in central Beirut of the current conflict that came with a warning.

The building didn’t immediately collapse after an initial strike. As people approached after the first hit, an Israeli drone launched a warning strike to disperse the crowds again ahead of a second anticipated strike.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin told reporters during a teleconference Thursday that she’s demanding Republican Majority Leader John Thune hold public hearings with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Americans deserve to know why Trump decided to attack Iran, but she said the president has been unable to articulate a clear reason, let alone an exit strategy.

She and five other Democratic senators have filed war powers resolutions to block the U.S. military campaign, which she called unauthorized, “illegal” and “a war of choice.”

Brig. Guy Foden said a number of drones hit a base in Irbil in northern Iraq that houses both British and American troops, and that several U.S. personnel were injured.

Another officer, Lt. Gen. Nick Perry, said there were no British casualties in Wednesday night's attack, and that U.S. casualties were “nothing too serious.”

“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup,” Trump wrote on his social media site Thursday, “but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”

This appears to depart somewhat from the message he relayed Tuesday evening at the White House to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who later publicly said that Trump assured him the Iranian players and coaches would still be welcome.

The White House did not immediately clarify Thursday what the president meant by “their own life and safety,” such as whether he anticipated threats against them while in the United States. Iranian leaders said this week that it’s “not possible” for the country to participate in this year’s World Cup.

The vast majority of the 47,000 Americans who left the region did so commercially without taking one of the roughly 50 free charter evacuation flights for Americans, the department said.

About 32,000 Americans in the region reached out for either security information or travel assistance and all were then contacted by phone, text or email, but most who were offered charter seats preferred to arrange their own travel or to remain in the Middle East, the department said.

“We’ve been aware of that information," Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said. "It’s all about a posture of preparedness for worst-case scenarios.”

The FBI warned police departments before the war that Iran could try to strike the state.

“Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,” the alert said, according to ABC News.

The FBI alert said it had no additional information.

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The investment bank said early Thursday that the Iran war could have a sustained, if modest, impact on the U.S. economy, with inflation and unemployment higher and growth slower.

Goldman now thinks the Federal Reserve won’t cut its key interest rate until September, and its forecasts suggest Americans will keep seeing higher costs for gas, utilities and potentially groceries as they prepare to vote in this year’s elections.

Before this war began, Goldman forecast that inflation would cool as the impact of Trump’s tariffs fades. The bank now expects the Fed’s preferred inflation measure to end this year at 2.9%, remaining above the Fed’s target of 2%.

And that’s based on average oil prices rising 40% to $98 a barrel in March and April. Should the war cause oil prices rise to an average $110 over those two months, inflation would hit 3.3%, Goldman economists estimate.

The U.S. Navy said the fire Thursday on USS Gerald R. Ford originated in the main laundry area.

“The cause of the fire was not combat-related and is contained,” the Navy said in a post on X. “There is no damage to the ship’s propulsion plant, and the aircraft carrier remains fully operational.”

Two sailors are receiving medical treatment “for non-life-threatening injuries and are in stable condition,” the post continued.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier has been operating in the Red Sea for the last few weeks as part of U.S. operations in Iran.

The army announced the decision in the high-profile case at a time when much of the country’s attention is focused on the war with Iran.

Leaked video of the abuse was aired last year by Israel’s Channel 12 and purported to show the soldiers sodomize the Palestinian detainee from Gaza at the notorious Sde Teiman prison facility.

Hard-line ultranationalists were furious that the soldiers were arrested. Members of Netanyahu’s government were in uproar, leading to the resignation of the military’s top legal official, who had filed the indictment and authorized the leak.

Israel has long been accused of failing to hold its soldiers accountable for crimes committed against Palestinians. The allegations have intensified during the war in Gaza. Israel says its forces act within military and international law and says it thoroughly investigates any alleged abuses.

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Khamenei acknowledged in his speech the death of his father, signaling he was there in the aftermath and saw his father’s body. Khamenei also confirmed his wife, one of his sisters, his niece and the husband of his other sister also were killed in the airstrike.

“I had the honor of seeing his body after his martyrdom,” Khamenei said of his father. “What I saw was a mountain of steadfastness, and I was told that the fist of his intact hand had been clenched.”