أزمة الشرق الأوسط مباشرة: استهداف ناقلات نفط عراقية وإيران تستهدف إمدادات النفط

From 48m ago 00.56 CET Iraq oil ports halt operations after tanker attack – official Iraq’s oil ports have completely stopped operations while commercial ports continue to operate after an attack on a fuel tanker, an Iraqi official has said. Farhan Al-Fartousi, the head of Iraq’s General Company for Ports, also told Al-Iraqiya News that one crew member was killed and 38 had been rescued, according to state news agency INA. He said a search for the missing was continuing. Iraqi port security officials has said, as reported earlier, that two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were in flames after being attacked by Iranian boats laden with explosives. Al-Fartousi said a tanker loaded with petroleum products was in the process of loading when it was involved in an “incident”, the INA report said, also saying: double quotation mark He added that “one of the smaller tankers involved flies the Maltese flag” noting that the vessel was hit by an explosion, though it remains unclear whether it was a direct strike or a waterborne improvised explosive device (suicide boat). Al-Fartousi said the tankers were about 30 miles (48km) off the Iraqi coast. The Iraqi government’s media cell has been quoted as telling INA that “two tankers were subject to sabotage”. Share Updated at 01.35 CET 13m ago 01.32 CET Robert Mackey As video circulating online appears to show oil tankers filled with Iraqi oil in flames in the Persian Gulf after the reported attacks by Iran, Donald Trump assured his supporters at a rally in Kentucky that the war on Iran he started from his Florida beach club 12 days ago is already over and “we won”. After Trump first shouted “Operation Epic Fury!”, the Pentagon’s name for the US offensive, and received cheers from his supporters, he added: “Is that a great name? Well, it’s only good if you win … and we’ve won. Let me tell you, we’ve won.” “You know, you never like to say too early you won,” Trump continued, perhaps thinking of his predecessor, George W Bush, standing in front of a huge “Mission Accomplished” banner in 2003 and prematurely declaring a US victory in Iraq. But then he plowed ahead with his own declaration. “We won. We won. In the first hour it was over,” Trump said. Share Updated at 01.36 CET 48m ago 00.56 CET Iraq oil ports halt operations after tanker attack – official Iraq’s oil ports have completely stopped operations while commercial ports continue to operate after an attack on a fuel tanker, an Iraqi official has said. Farhan Al-Fartousi, the head of Iraq’s General Company for Ports, also told Al-Iraqiya News that one crew member was killed and 38 had been rescued, according to state news agency INA. He said a search for the missing was continuing. Iraqi port security officials has said, as reported earlier, that two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were in flames after being attacked by Iranian boats laden with explosives. Al-Fartousi said a tanker loaded with petroleum products was in the process of loading when it was involved in an “incident”, the INA report said, also saying: double quotation mark He added that “one of the smaller tankers involved flies the Maltese flag” noting that the vessel was hit by an explosion, though it remains unclear whether it was a direct strike or a waterborne improvised explosive device (suicide boat). Al-Fartousi said the tankers were about 30 miles (48km) off the Iraqi coast. The Iraqi government’s media cell has been quoted as telling INA that “two tankers were subject to sabotage”. Share Updated at 01.35 CET 1h ago 00.39 CET US to release 172m barrels of oil from strategic petroleum reserve The United States will release 172m barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum reserve in a bid to reduce oil prices that have soared due to supply shocks from war, the US energy secretary has said. Chris Wright said the release is part of a broader release of 400m barrels of oil agreed to by the 32-country International Energy Agency earlier in the day. He said the release would begin next week and will take about 120 days to deliver. In his statement on Wednesday, Wright accused Iran of having “manipulated and threatened the energy security of America and its allies”. Trump had said earlier on Wednesday that he planned to tap the petroleum reserve. The full report is here: US to release 172m barrels of oil from strategic petroleum reserve Read more Share 1h ago 00.30 CET US intelligence suggests Iranian leadership not at risk of collapse – report US intelligence indicates that Iran’s leadership is still largely intact and is not at risk of collapse any time soon after nearly two weeks of relentless US and Israeli bombardment, the Reuters news agency is reporting, citing three sources familiar with the matter. A “multitude” of intelligence reports provide “consistent analysis that the regime is not in danger” of collapse and “retains control of the Iranian public”, said one of the sources, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss US intelligence findings. The Reuters report also quoted one of the sources as saying latest intelligence report was completed within the past few days. The intelligence reporting underscores the cohesion of Iran’s clerical leadership despite the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US and Israeli strikes. Israeli officials in closed discussions have also acknowledged there is no certainty the war will lead to the clerical government’s collapse, a senior Israeli official told Reuters. The sources stressed that the situation on the ground was fluid and that the dynamics inside Iran could change. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment, while the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Share Updated at 00.42 CET 1h ago 00.16 CET The war in the Middle East is likely to result in worsening institutionalised repression of Iranian citizens, UN-mandated investigators looking into rights abuses in Iran have said. The UN’s independent international fact-finding mission on Iran said civilians in the country were caught between ongoing armed hostilities and repression that had reached unprecedented levels, which may amount to crimes against humanity. Iran’s deepening human rights crisis “is likely to worsen in the wake of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory strikes across the region”, the mission said on Wednesday. Over the past 11 months, it had identified “a clear pattern that is directly relevant to what we are seeing today in Iran”, said the statement, cited by AFP. double quotation mark The protection of civilians, including detainees, becomes acutely precarious during armed conflict, and in the aftermath, state repression intensifies, particularly where as now, a connectivity and internet shutdown is imposed. Share Updated at 00.16 CET 2h ago 23.57 CET One dead after two foreign oil tankers struck by Iranian boats in Iraqi waters - report Two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil are in flames after being attacked by Iranian boats laden with explosives, killing one foreign crew member, Iraqi port security officials told Reuters on Wednesday. Iraq evacuated the 25 crew members from the two vessels and fire is still ablaze on both ships, he added. Share Updated at 23.59 CET 2h ago 23.43 CET Hezbollah and Iran carried out first coordinated attack against Israel Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has confirmed that it carried out a coordinated attack on Israel with Hezbollah. In a statement to Nour News, the IRGC said the attack involved the launch of missiles against Tel Aviv, as well as the “occupied territories of Jerusalem, Haifa”, and US bases in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Earlier, a senior Israeli defence official said Iran and Hezbollah had carried out a joint missile strike on northern Israel. It marks the first time Iran and Hezbollah, which operates out of Lebanon, have conducted a joint operation against Israel since the conflict began 12 days ago. Share Updated at 23.57 CET 2h ago 23.21 CET The day so far Here’s a brief recap of the last few hours. Donald Trump said the US is “not finished yet” when asked about the war in Iran . He boasted that the US has hit Iran “harder than virtually any country in history has been hit”, before adding: “We’re not finished yet.” Speaking at another engagement, Trump said the US had “won” but “we got to finish the job”. Earlier, he had told Axios that the war would end “soon” since the there is “practically nothing left to target” in Iran. The Israeli military launched a “large-scale wave of strikes” on Beirut’s densely populated suburbs after Hezbollah launched what the IDF said were “dozens” of rockets. The IDF claimed the strikes targeted what it described as “Hezbollah infrastructure” in the Dahieh suburb of southern Beirut. Israel’s renewed bombing campaign across Lebanon and its invasion of border areas with ground troops have killed more than 570 people, according to Lebanese authorities. This includes at least 83 children, according to Unicef. About 750,000 people have been displaced after being forced to flee the violence, sparking a growing humanitarian disaster. The Israeli military said is prepared to continue its war with Iran for “as long as necessary”. “We as an army are prepared to continue the campaign as long as necessary,” a spokesperson said, as quoted by Reuters. Earlier, the Isreali defence minister, Israel Katz, conveyed similar sentiments, saying that the war “will continue without any time limit”. Iran’s UN ambassador said a UN security council resolution demanding that Tehran stop its “egregious” attacks on Gulf nations is an “injustice against my country” – adding that Iran is the “main victim of a clear act of aggression”. “ The decision distorts the facts on the ground and ignores the root causes of the current crisis,” Amir Saeid Iravani said. “The attack on us began with the assassin