TEHRAN: Israel launched a wave of strikes on Tehran and Beirut on Tuesday (Mar 17) while attacks in Baghdad drew neighbouring Iraq deeper into the Middle East war that has sparked economic turmoil across the globe.
The Iranian capital, under near-daily bombardment since a joint US-Israeli attack started the war on Feb 28, was hit by what the Israeli military said were strikes on “terror regime infrastructure”.
The war, now in its third week, has killed hundreds and quickly spread to include Iranian strikes on Gulf nations as well as Israeli bombardment of Lebanon.
Lebanese state media reported Tuesday that Israeli strikes at dawn hit a residential building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of the pro-Iranian armed group Hezbollah.
Authorities in Lebanon said more than one million people have registered as displaced since Mar 2, with more than 130,000 people staying in upwards of 600 collective shelters.
The nation was drawn into the war when Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants struck Israel over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the conflict.
The regional war has also steadily pulled Iraq further into the fighting, after the country had long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran.
A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, while a strike killed four people at a house reportedly hosting Iranian advisors.
The strikes on the complex came hours after air defences thwarted a rocket attack at the embassy and a drone sparked a fire at a luxury hotel frequented by foreign diplomats in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone.
War in the Mideast has sent oil costs soaring, and prices resumed their climb on Tuesday as several countries pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s demand that they help secure the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran continued to target crude-producing neighbours.
Traffic in the Gulf waterway through which a fifth of global crude oil passes has been severely disrupted by the war.
Repeated attacks on oil infrastructure – including strikes on major fields in the United Arab Emirates and southern Iraq – have contributed to the unrest in the markets.
Global oil prices have surged more than 40 per cent since the US and Israel began their strike, and the impact has been felt globally.
Australia’s central bank hiked its key interest rate Tuesday, pointing to “sharply higher fuel prices” driven by the US-Israel war on Iran.