The war in the Middle East has entered its third month, with a fragile ceasefire holding as the conflict spreads to Europe and escalates across the region. The United States and Israel launched air strikes against Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders. The initial strikes, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, sent shockwaves through sectors including shipping, air travel, and oil, amid rising energy costs and disruption to business in the Strait of Hormuz, a global trade hub.
Key Events
Trump Mulls Longer Blockade and Sends Warning
US President Donald Trump has met with US oil companies to discuss mitigating the effects of a possible months-long US blockade, a White House official said. This comes as the President urged Iran to “get smart soon” and sign a deal. Trump spoke with oil executives on Tuesday following a deadlock in efforts to resolve the conflict. Trump has said Iran can call if it wants to talk and, in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, before details of the meeting emerged, said Iran “couldn’t get its act together.” He also said on Wednesday that Iran talks were being conducted by phone after he cancelled a weekend trip for US negotiators set to speak with Iranian officials in Pakistan.
Trump and the oil executives “discussed the steps President Trump has taken to alleviate global oil markets and steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimise impact on American consumers,” the White House official said. Oil prices rose more than six per cent on Wednesday, with the Brent contract hitting a one-month high, on the prospect of a lengthy blockade. The war has cost the United States $US25 billion ($A35 billion) so far, a senior Pentagon official said in the first official estimate of the military’s price tag for the conflict. Iranian authorities warned on Wednesday of “unprecedented military action” against continued US blockading of Iran-linked vessels.
Hegseth Questioned Over ‘Calling Our Troops Liars’
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been questioned over claims he made in contradiction to reports of American soldiers deployed in Iran. He came under fire over a deadly March 1 strike on a makeshift operations centre at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait, where six Army Reserve soldiers were killed and 30 were wounded. Democratic Representative Patrick Ryan pressed Hegseth on what defences existed there, following reports the operations centre was not fortified against aerial threats like drones or missiles. Ryan read media reports from survivors of the attack who said there was not proper air defence at the position in Kuwait despite requests.
“That is obviously in direct contradiction to what you said from the Pentagon podium the next day. So are you saying that these soldiers, our soldiers, who survived this horrific attack, are lying?” Ryan said. “What I’m saying is before the commencement of the conflict, we put in maximum defensive posture we could, we moved … 7,500 troops off of the X based on the intel,” Hegseth said. “We knew what Iran was going to try to strike, we knew there could be a tragic moment where something could get through. Of course, that’s the consequence of conflict. There’s a much larger picture at play here that included integrated air defences, bunkers, moving people off the X to ensure they were not part of the target. I’m not calling our troops liars, and I don’t know if what you’re representing is correct or not. I’ll take you at your word on that, but all I know is that we took every effort possible at the commencement of this campaign to ensure the defence of our troops.”
Iran and Ukraine Wars Could End on ‘Similar Timetable’
US President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Trump said that wars in Iran and Ukraine could end “on a similar timetable,” following their one-and-a-half hour phone conversation. “Which war would end first? Maybe they’re on a similar timetable,” Trump said. “I think Ukraine, militarily, they’re defeated,” Trump said, appearing to misspeak when he meant to refer to Iran. “You wouldn’t know that by reading the fake news, but militarily, maybe look, there are 159 ships – every ship is right now under water, typically, that’s pretty good. It’d be hard for them to make a naval comeback now. Do you think they’re doing well, where they have no navy, no air force, no anti-aircraft apparatus?”
Trump had previously forecast the Iran war, which the US launched on February 28, to last four to six weeks. The Ukraine war has been underway since 2022, and there is no end in sight. Earlier in the remarks, Trump said he talked “a little bit about Iran” with Putin, but Thursday’s call was mostly “about Ukraine.” “I think we’re going to come up with a solution relatively quickly,” he said. “I hope, I think, we’d like to see a solution that’s good.” He said that Putin would like to help the US with Iran, and “be involved” with Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles. “He can help us get it,” Trump said. “I said, before you help me, I want to end your war.”
