Dubai, Mar 11: Israel and Iran exchanged fire early Wednesday as Tehran kept up its pressure on the region’s oil industry, hitting a ship in the Strait of Hormuz and targeting infrastructure as concerns grew of a global energy crisis.

Iran has effectively stopped shipping traffic through the narrow strait off its coast, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean.

It has also been targeting oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations as part of a strategy that appeared to be aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.

Early Wednesday, Kuwait said its defences had downed eight Iranian drones over the oil-rich nation and Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted five drones heading toward the kingdom’s vast Shaybah oil field.

A projectile hit a container ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Nations Security Council was to vote later in the day on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council demanding Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbours.

Israel, which launched the war with the United States on Feb 28, said it had had begun a new wave of attacks on Tehran, following multiple strikes the day before that residents described as some of the heaviest during the war.

Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern Lebanon after Israel said it had started a new assault on targets related to the Iran-linked militia Hezbollah.

The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut in the densely populated Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors of the multistory structure in flames. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the strike, which came without warning.

An earlier Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed five people in the Nabatieh district, while two more were killed in strikes in the Tyre district and the Bint Jbeil district, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

A Red Cross worker also died early Wednesday of wounds sustained Monday, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.

Nearly 500 people have been killed so far in Lebanon since Hezbollah triggered the latest round of fighting with Israel when it fired rockets into the country’s north after the American and Israeli attacks on Iran started.

Israel warned of three Iranian attacks across the country early Wednesday, with sirens heard in Tel Aviv and elsewhere but no immediate reports of casualties.

In addition to targeting Saudi Arabia’s oil fields, the kingdom’s defense ministry said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major US- and Saudi-operated air facility in eastern Saudi Arabia. The ministry also said it intercepted and destroyed two drones over Hafar al-Batin, a major city in the eastern province.

In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran hit a container ship with a projectile off Ras al-Khaimah, the UAE’s northern-most emirate on the strait, according to a monitoring site run by the British military.

It said the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew”.

The United Arab Emirates said early Wednesday that its air defences were working to intercept incoming Iranian fire. The wealthy Gulf nation — home to the business and travel hub of Dubai — said Iranian attacks have killed six people and wounded 122 others there.

Bahrain sounded sirens early Wednesday, warning of an incoming Iranian attack. The warnings came a day after an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the capital, Manama, and killed a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight people.

In New York, the UN Security Council was to vote Wednesday afternoon on the Gulf Cooperation Council resolution, according to three diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation regional bloc, said its own facilities were targeted in an Iranian attack last week on Bahrain.

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, condemns Iran’s attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

The measure calls for an immediate end to all strikes and threats against neighbouring states, including through proxies.

It would be the first Security Council resolution considered since the start of the war.

Oil prices remained well below the peaks hit on Monday but the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was still up some 20% Wednesday from when the war began, and consumers around the world are already feeling the pain at the pump.

The spike in oil prices has been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.

Amin Nasser, the president and CEO of Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco, warned on Tuesday that if oil tankers continue to be unable to transit the strait “that will have a serious impact on the global economy.”

The US military said Tuesday it had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, though US President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports yet of Iran mining the passage, a prospect that experts warned of in the buildup to the war.

In addition to the nearly 500 people killed in Lebanon, Iran has said more than 1,300 people have been killed there and Israel has reported 12 people dead.

The US has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.

Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Persian Gulf region since the war began, including over 45,000 UK citizens, the British Foreign Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.

Seoul, Mar 11: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter observed tests of strategic cruise missiles fired from a warship, state media reported Wednesday, as North Korea threatened responses to US-South Korean military drills.

Images sent by the Korean Central News Agency showed the two in a conference room looking at a screen showing weapons being fired from the Choe Hyon, a year-old naval destroyer.

Kim Jong Un watched the missiles launches via video on Tuesday and underscored the need to maintain “a powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent,” KCNA reported in a dispatch that did not mention his daughter.

The girl, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and about 13, has accompanied her father at numerous prominent events including military parades and weapons launches since late 2022. South Korea’s spy agency assessed last month Kim Jong Un was close to designating her as his heir.

KCNA said the missiles hit target islands off North Korea’s west coast. It quoted Kim Jong Un as saying the launches were meant to demonstrate the navy’s strategic offensive posture and get troops familiarized with weapons firings.

Kim Jong Un observed similar cruise missile launches from the Choe Hyon in person last week, but his daughter was not seen at that appearance.

Tuesday’s missile firings came after the start of the springtime US-South Korean military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

On Tuesday, Kim Jong Un’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, warned the drills reveal again the US and South Korea’s “inveterate repugnancy toward” North Korea. She said North Korea will “convince the enemies of our war deterrence.”

The 11-day Freedom Shield drill that began Monday is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise and will be accompanied by a field training programme. North Korea often reacts to the two sets of training with its own weapons tests.

United Nations, Mar 11: The United Nations has warned of significant risks to global trade and development, including higher food prices and cost-of-living, if the Strait of Hormuz is closed amid the West Asia conflict.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report Tuesday that the ongoing military escalation in the region due to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliation by Tehran has disrupted shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints.

The narrow passage carries around a quarter of global seaborne oil trade and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas and fertilisers.

“The resulting ripple effects go far beyond the region, affecting energy markets, maritime transport and global supply chains,” the report said.

“Higher energy, fertiliser and transport costs – including freight rates, bunker fuel prices and insurance premiums – may increase food costs and intensify cost-of-living pressures, particularly for the most vulnerable,” it said.

Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at the daily press briefing that UNCTAD’s economic analysis on the potential impact of a closure of the Strait of Hormuz highlights “significant risks to global trade and development”.

The UNCTAD report stressed that disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz underscore the “vulnerability” of critical maritime chokepoints to geopolitical tensions and their potential to transmit shocks across supply chains and commodity markets.

It further noted that reducing risks to global trade and development, including environmental risks, requires de-escalation and safeguarding maritime transport, ports and seafarers, and other civilian infrastructure, while maintaining secure trade corridors in line with international law and freedom of navigation.

“Economic impacts, both globally and for the region, will depend on the duration, intensity and geographic scope of the tensions. Continued monitoring is essential to assess evolving risks and their potential impacts,” UNCTAD said.

The report noted that many developing countries already face high debt service burdens, limited fiscal space and constrained access to finance.

In such a context, rising energy, transport and food costs could strain public finances and household budgets, potentially heightening economic and social pressures and complicating progress toward sustainable development, particularly in economies heavily dependent on imported energy, fertilisers and staple foods.

According to UNCTAD data, about 20 million barrels of oil per day – roughly 25 per cent of global seaborne oil trade – passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024. Of them, crude oil and condensate accounted for 14 million bpd and petroleum products for 6 million bpd.

Data from a week prior to the latest West Asia escalation showed that 38 per cent of global seaborne crude oil trade, 29 per cent of liquefied petroleum gas trade and 19 per cent each of liquefied natural gas and refined oil products passed through the Strait.

Since February 28, when the first strikes against Iran were launched by the US and Israel, ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped by 97 per cent.

UNCTAD warned that disruptions in the Strait compromise energy supplies, particularly to Asia.

In 2024, 84 per cent of the 14.3 million barrels of crude oil per day that were transported through the Strait of Hormuz were headed for Asia, while only 16 per cent was destined towards Europe and other regions.

Similarly, 83 per cent of the 10.4 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas shipped daily through the Strait was bound for Asia. Around one-third of the global seaborne fertiliser trade, about 16 million tonnes annually, also passes through the waterway, UNCTAD said.

Warning that ripple effects of a possible closure of the Strait can travel far, the UN agency said, “When oil prices go up, food prices often go up. When gas prices go up, fertiliser prices often go up.”

“The current shock comes at a time when many developing economies struggle to service their debt, face a tightening of fiscal space and limited capacity to absorb new price shocks,” it said.