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Three weeks into an escalating war in the Middle East, Iran threatened to expand its retaliatory attacks to include recreational and tourist sites worldwide, as the U.S. announced it was sending more warships\u00a0and Marines\u00a0to the region.<\/p>\n
Following news of the deployments, President Donald Trump said later Friday on social media that his administration in fact was considering \u201cwinding down\u201d military operations in the region. The mixed messages came after another\u00a0climb in oil\u00a0prices plunged the U.S. stock market, and was followed by a Trump administration announcement that it will lift sanctions on Iranian oil loaded on ships, a move aimed at wrangling soaring fuel prices.<\/p>\n
The war, meanwhile, has shown no signs of abating.<\/p>\n
Israel said Iran continued to fire missiles at it early Saturday, while Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in just a couple of hours in the country\u2019s eastern region, which is home to major oil installations. The defense ministry said there were no injuries or damage.<\/p>\n
The attacks came a day after Israeli airstrikes hit in Tehran as Iranians celebrated the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, a normally\u00a0festive holiday.<\/p>\n
Iran has escalated attacks on its\u00a0Gulf neighbors\u00a0since Israel bombed its massive\u00a0South Pars offshore natural gas field, while keeping a\u00a0stranglehold on shipping\u00a0in the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz, a\u00a0strategic waterwaythrough which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and other critical goods are transported.<\/p>\n
With little information coming out of Iran, it was not clear how much damage its arms, nuclear or energy facilities have sustained in the punishing U.S. and Israeli strikes, which began Feb. 28 \u2014 or even who\u00a0was truly in charge of the country. But Iran\u2019s attacks are still choking off oil supplies and\u00a0raising food and fuel prices\u00a0far beyond the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Trump says US near completion of its goals<\/p>\n
The U.S. and Israel have offered shifting rationales for the war, from\u00a0hoping to foment an uprising\u00a0that topples Iran\u2019s leadership to eliminating its\u00a0nuclear and missile programs. There have been no public signs of any such uprising and no end to the war in sight.<\/p>\n
In his social media post, the president said, \u201cWe are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n
That seemed at odds with his administration\u2019s move to bolster its firepower in the region and request another $200 billion from Congress to fund the war.<\/p>\n
The U.S. is deploying three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the Middle East, an official told The Associated Press. Two other U.S. officials confirmed that ships were deploying, without saying where they were headed. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.<\/p>\n
Days earlier the U.S. redirected another group of amphibious assault ships carrying another 2,500 Marines from the Pacific to the Middle East. The Marines will join more than 50,000 U.S. troops already in the region.<\/p>\n
Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but also has asserted that he retains all options.<\/p>\n
Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini, a spokesperson for Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, was quoted by a state-run newspaper Friday as saying Iran continues to manufacture missiles despite Israel\u2019s claim that it destroyed Iran\u2019s production capabilities. Iranian state television later said Naeini was killed in an airstrike.<\/p>\n
Iran threatens attacks beyond the Middle East<\/p>\n
Supreme Leader Ayatollah\u00a0Mojtaba Khamenei\u00a0praised Iranians\u2019 steadfastness in the face of war in a written statement read on Iranian television to mark Nowruz. He said the U.S. and Israeli attacks were based on an illusion that killing Iran\u2019s top leaders could cause the overthrow of the government.<\/p>\n
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he became supreme leader following Israeli strikes that killed his father, Ayatollah\u00a0Ali Khamenei, and reportedly wounded him. Airstrikes have also killed the head of its Supreme National Security Council and a\u00a0raft of other top-rankingofficials.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s top military spokesperson, Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, warned that \u201cparks, recreational areas and tourist destinations\u201d worldwide will not be safe for the country\u2019s enemies. The threat renewed concerns that Tehran may revert to using militant attacks beyond the Middle East as a pressure tactic.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen if lifting sanctions on Iranian oil will drop prices<\/p>\n
Brent crude oil, the international standard, has soared during the fighting and was around $108 per barrel, up from roughly $70 before the war.<\/p>\n
The newly announced U.S. pause in sanctions applies to Iranian oil loaded on ships as of Friday and is set to end April 19. The license has limits including a restriction on sales involving anyone in North Korea or Cuba.<\/p>\n
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously suggested it as a way to prevent China from being the sole beneficiary of Iranian oil.<\/p>\n
The new move does not increase the flow of production, a central factor in the\u00a0surging prices. Iran has managed to evade U.S. sanctions for years, suggesting that much of what it exports already reaches buyers.<\/p>\n
Looking for ways to\u00a0boost global oil supplies\u00a0during\u00a0the Iran war, the Trump administration has previously paused sanctions on certain Russian oil shipments for 30 days, which critics said rewarded Moscow while having only a modest effect on markets.<\/p>\n
Israel continues wave of strikes against Hezbollah militants<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said early Saturday that it began a wave of strikes targeting Hezbollah militants in Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs.<\/p>\n
Smoke was seen rising, fires broke out and loud explosions were heard across parts of central Beirut. Hours earlier the army renewed evacuation warnings for seven neighborhoods, prompting some residents to fire gunshots to alert families to flee. No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n
Israeli strikes targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants\u00a0in Lebanon\u00a0have displaced more than 1 million people, according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 1,000 people have been killed.<\/p>\n
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran during the war. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missiles and four others have died in the occupied West Bank. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.<\/p>\n
#U.S #deploying #amphibious #assault #ships #additional #Marines #Mideast<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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