US MARINES DISPATCHED
The United States and Israel have treaded carefully around Kharg Island until now, but US officials have been reported as saying that capturing the island was potentially on the table.
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported on Friday that the Pentagon had dispatched the Japan-based amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli to the region along with its complement of some 2,500 Marines.
Heavy blasts shook Tehran late Friday after the United States vowed to step up air strikes and Iranian state media said a fresh round of missiles had been launched towards Israel. Israeli rescue workers said no casualties were reported.
Blasts were heard in Doha early Saturday and Qatar’s defense ministry said its military had intercepted missiles targeting the Gulf state.
Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said its forces had intercepted dozens of drones on Friday and Turkey said NATO forces shot down a ballistic missile launched from Iran – the third such interception in the war.
The Islamic republic is intent on showing it will come through the war intact and in control, despite its supreme leader Ali Khamenei being killed at the start of the US-Israeli campaign on Feb 28.
Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei was named the new supreme leader, but has been absent from public view and said to be wounded.
The US government unveiled a US$10 million reward for information about Mojtaba Khamenei’s whereabouts.
US$100 A BARREL
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a news conference the US military would bombard Iran more heavily on Friday than any other day so far in the war.
According to the Pentagon, the US and Israel have struck more than 15,000 targets in Iran over the past two weeks. Israel’s military said it conducted 7,600 strikes on the country, most of them against its missile program.
The conflict has sparked chaos in global markets and sent oil prices soaring.
Brent contracts for a barrel of crude have soared more than 42 percent, leaving markets and governments everywhere skittish about energy supply and higher inflation. On Friday, oil stayed above US$100 a barrel.
Within Iran, the Revolutionary Guards have warned of an even stronger response to any anti-government protests, after ones in January in which several thousand people were killed.
Iranian authorities have maintained an internet blackout since the war started.
Iranians speaking to AFP under cover of anonymity have described a grim picture of cities in ruins and cash running short.
A woman in Kermanshah, western Iran, told AFP that “countless” people from Tehran had come to seek refuge from the air strikes, adding to demand for food and scarce medicine, with prices “nearly doubling”.
The UN refugee agency has estimated that up to 3.2 million people have been displaced inside Iran since the war started.
Iran’s health ministry said on Mar 8 that more than 1,200 people have been killed, a figure AFP has not been able to verify independently.
The US military has lost 13 personnel since the war started – including six members of a refuelling aircraft that crashed in Iraq after an incident officials said was not caused by hostile fire.