DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil” as the conflict with Iran and its closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent average U.S. gas prices past $4 a gallon and roiled global markets.
The president's social media tirade came after U.S. strikes hit a city that is home to one of Iran’s main nuclear
sites, sending a massive fireball into the sky, and Tehran attacked a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.
The attacks showed the intensity of the war more than a month after the U.S. and Israel launched their first strikes. The conflict has left more than 3,000 dead and caused major disruptions to the world’s supply of oil and natural gas.
Trump, who has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war, had earlier shared footage of the attack on Isfahan. The central city is home to one of three nuclear enrichment sites attacked by the U.S. in a 12-day war in June, and analysts believe much of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely stored there.
Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway leading out of Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported during peacetime, has driven up global oil prices, as have Tehran's attacks on regional energy infrastructure. That has shaken stock markets around the world and pushed up the cost of many basic goods.
Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, hovered around $106 a barrel Tuesday, up more than 45% since the war started Feb. 28.
Trump warned this week that if a ceasefire is not reached “shortly,” and if the strait is not reopened, the U.S. would broaden its offensive, including by attacking the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants.
Israel and the U.S. launched a wave of strikes on Iran, hitting Tehran in the early morning. Israel also said it had launched a new wave of strikes targeting what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.
The video shared by Trump appeared to show a massive attack on Isfahan, and NASA fire-tracking satellites suggest explosions happened in a mountainous region on the city's southern edge. Iran has not confirmed the attack.
A satellite image taken just before the June war suggests Tehran transferred a truckload of highly enriched uranium to a nuclear facility about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Tuesday's strikes.
Analysts believe the truck — which the image showed going into a tunnel loaded with 18 blue containers — likely carried most or all of Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% purity. That’s a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.
An Iranian drone hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker in waters off the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai, sparking a blaze that was later put out, the Dubai Media Office said. Authorities said no oil spill resulted.
Four people were also wounded when debris from an intercepted drone fell into a residential area, and loud explosions could be heard later from another attack on Dubai.
Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three ballistic missiles launched toward its capital. Loud explosions were also heard in Israel not long after the military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran.
In his social media posts, Trump expressed anger at allies that have not given him the support he wants.
He singled out France for not letting planes taking military supplies to Israel fly over French territory.
“France has been VERY UNHELPFUL,” he wrote, adding that “The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!”
Italy has refused permission for U.S. military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for an operation linked to the offensive in the Middle East, an official with knowledge of the matter said, confirming a local press report.
The denial was issued a few days ago and concerned American aircraft, including bombers, which were supposed to land at the base before continuing toward the Middle East, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Italian government later insisted that its relationship with the U.S. is “solid and based on full and loyal cooperation.”
The U.N. Security Council planned to convene an emergency session Tuesday after officials said three peacekeepers in southern Lebanon had been killed in less than 24 hours during Israel’s invasion there.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, where Israel is battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah, did not say who was responsible for the deaths.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
Two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank. In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed, and more than 1 million displaced.
Ten Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon, including the four announced Tuesday, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
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Rising reported from Bangkok and Superville from Washington. Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.
