An Israeli security personnel inspects the site of an Iranian missile strike in Dimona on March 22, 2026. Iranian missile strikes on two southern Israeli towns wounded more than 100 people on March 21, medics said, after Israeli air defence systems failed to intercept the projectiles. Iranian state TV said the missile attack on Dimona, which houses a nuclear facility, was a "response" to an earlier strike on its own nuclear site at Natanz. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP) /
Israel has launched another round of attacks on Iran, prompting threats of retaliation from Tehran against critical infrastructure in the Middle East.
This escalation no doubt has pushed the world into its worst energy crisis in decades, with oil prices soaring and global markets in turmoil.
Recall that the conflict began when Israel targeted Iranian infrastructure, and Iran responded by firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf nations, hitting energy sites and US embassies. The situation is dire, with over 2,000 people killed and millions displaced.
Explosions rang out in Tehran, Iranian media reported, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates said they were intercepting missiles and drones.
International Energy Agency, Chief Faith Birol said at least 40 energy assets across the oil- and gas-exporting region have been “severely or very severely damaged” in the conflict, as the war ignited by Israel-US attacks on Iran entered its fourth week.
Tehran has met the assaults by firing missiles and drones at Israel and across the Gulf in the last weeks, hitting energy sites and US embassies alike. It has also throttled traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which a fifth of global crude oil transits.
With oil prices hovering above $100 a barrel over supply fears, US President Donald Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iranian power plants if Tehran failed to reopen the strait within 48 hours.
The deadline, based on the time of his social media posting, would be 23:44 GMT, early morning Tuesday in Iran.
But Iran’s response was firm, with its powerful parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, vowing that vital infrastructure across the region would “be considered legitimate targets and will be irreversibly destroyed” if Trump carried out his threat.
Laying out the scale of the crisis before the global economy, IEA chief Fatih Birol said 11 million barrels of oil are currently lost a day — more than the daily volume eradicated during two consecutive oil crises in the 1970s.
“No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction. So there is a need for global efforts,” Birol told journalists in Canberra.
Asian stocks slipped while oil prices rose again early Monday, with US benchmark crude briefly touching the $100-per-barrel mark.
In recent days, Iran has allowed a handful of vessels from countries it considers friendly to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, while warning it would block ships from countries it says have joined the “aggression” against it.
Iran’s parliament is mulling imposing tolls on shipping through the strait, with Ghalibaf saying maritime traffic would “not return to its pre-war status”.
But Donald Trump has offered varying timelines and objectives for the war, saying Friday he was considering “winding down” the operation, a day before his threat against power plants, which would mark a significant escalation.
More than 1,000 people have died in Lebanon since Israel launched strikes, according to the health ministry, with more than one million people displaced.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun warned that the bridge attacks “represent a dangerous escalation and flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and are considered a prelude to a ground invasion”.
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