Death Toll From U.S.-Israel War On Iran Nears 2,000

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran opened fire on targets in the Middle East, sparking multiple fires at a Kuwaiti oil refinery; American and Israeli airstrikes hit the Islamic Republic early Friday as the war neared the end of its fifth week. UN Security Council They prepared to meet over Tehran’s dominance in the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite the claims of the USA and Israel Iran’s military capabilities Tehran attacked Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery with a drone early Friday, continuing to keep up the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors.

The refinery was hit multiple times during the war, and the state-run Kuwait Oil Company said firefighters were trying to contain several fires. In Bahrain, sirens were sounded regarding Iranian attacks and Israel reported that missiles were coming.

Activists reported strikes around Tehran and Isfahan, but it was not immediately clear what was hit.

Iran’s attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf region and its tight control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas transit in peacetime, have caused oil prices to soar and are affecting global economies.

Spot prices of Brent crude oilIt was around $109 early Friday, up more than 50% from the international standard of Feb. 28, when the United States launched the war by attacking Iran.

Shipping flowed freely through the strait before the war, but President Donald Trump said reopening the waterway was no longer Washington’s responsibility, instead shifting the onus to others, and said this week that countries more reliant on fuel sent via Hormuz should “develop some belated courage” and “get on with it.”

The UN Security Council was expected to vote on Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would allow defensive action to ensure safe passage of ships through the strait. Bahrain’s initial draft allowed countries to “use all necessary means” to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France, which have veto power over the Council, have expressed opposition to approving the use of force.

Speaking in South Korea on Thursday French President Emmanuel Macron He said that the US’s expectation that the Strait of Hormuz could be opened by force was unrealistic.

Macron said a military operation would “take an infinite amount of time and expose anyone passing through the strait to coastal threats from (Iran’s) Revolutionary Guards.” He added that reopening the strait could be done “only in coordination with Iran” through negotiations following a possible ceasefire.

In the talks organized by the UK and attended by more than 40 countries, the focus was on political methods rather than military methods to ensure the security of the Bosphorus. Countries other than the United States have called for increased diplomatic pressure and possible sanctions against Iran.

More than 1,900 people were killed in Iran during the war, while 19 people were reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people died in the Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, including 13 Americans. service members was killed.

More than 1,300 people was killed and more than 1 million people have been displaced in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground offensive in its fight against the pro-Iran Hezbollah militant group. 10 Israeli soldiers also died there.

The rises were reported from Bangkok. AP journalists Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.