Iran Targets Commercial Ships, Airport 03/11 06:14

   Iran attacked commercial ships on Wednesday across the Persian Gulf and 
targeted Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the 
oil-rich region as global energy concerns mounted and American and Israeli 
airstrikes pounded the Islamic Republic.

   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran attacked commercial ships on 
Wednesday across the Persian Gulf and targeted Dubai International Airport, 
escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy 
concerns mounted and American and Israeli airstrikes pounded the Islamic 
Republic.

   Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the 
long-haul carrier Emirates and the world's busiest for international travel. 
Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.

   Iran's joint military command announced it would start targeting banks and 
financial institutions in the Middle East. That would put at risk particularly 
Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international 
financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of 
Bahrain.

   Earlier, a projectile hit a Thai cargo ship off the coast of Oman in the 
Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze. Authorities are searching for three 
missing crew members from the Mayuree Naree after 20 were rescued by the Omani 
navy, according to Thailand's Marine Department.

   Kuwait said its defenses downed eight Iranian drones and Saudi Arabia said 
it intercepted five heading toward the kingdom's Shaybah oil field.

   Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow strait through 
which about a fifth of all oil is shipped. It has also targeted oil fields and 
refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic 
pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.

   The U.N. Security Council was to vote later Wednesday on a resolution 
sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council demanding Iran stop attacking its 
Arab neighbors.

   Witnesses reported continuous airstrikes hitting Tehran after Israel said it 
had renewed its attacks. Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern 
Lebanon after Israel said it was hitting targets connected to Iran-backed 
Hezbollah militants.

   Israel pounds Lebanon with new attacks

   The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut's densely populated 
Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors. There were no immediate 
reports of casualties.

   Other Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon killed 14 people, and 
a Red Cross worker also died Wednesday of wounds sustained Monday, when his 
team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an 
earlier attack.

   Lebanon's Health Ministry said Wednesday that 570 people have been killed in 
the country since that latest fighting began. Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel 
after the United States and Israel began the wider war with their surprise 
bombardment of Iran.

   Iran launches multiple salvos at Israel and Gulf Arab nations

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

   Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward 
Prince Sultan Air Base, a major U.S.- and Saudi-operated facility, and 
intercepted two drones over the eastern city of Hafar al-Batin.

   The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British 
military, reported an attack on a container ship off the United Arab Emirates, 
saying the "extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation 
by the crew." Another ship was hit by a projectile in the Persian Gulf, it 
said. The crew was reported safe.

   The ship attacks follow intense American airstrikes targeting Iranian navy 
assets and the port city of Bandar Abbas on Tuesday.

   Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE were working to shoot down Iranian missiles 
and drones.

   The Iranian threat against financial institutions did not identify any 
specifically. It came after a Tehran location of Bank Sepah, the state-owned 
financial institution sanctioned by the U.S. over funding its armed forces, 
came under attack early Wednesday, killing staffers there, the state-run IRNA 
news agency reported.

   At the United Nations, the 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 draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, condemns Iran's 
attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan. The 
measure calls for an immediate end to all strikes and threats against 
neighboring states, including through proxies.

   It would be the first Security Council resolution considered since the start 
of the war on Feb. 28.

   Oil prices stay high on fears of prolonged shipping disruption

   Oil prices remained well below Monday's peaks 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 a prolonged war could hinder exports from a critical region.

   The U.S. military said Tuesday it had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near 
the Strait of Hormuz, though U.S. President Donald Trump said in social media 
posts that there were no reports yet of Iran mining the passage.

   If the strait is mined, it could take at least weeks to clean it up once the 
conflict is over.

   Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the 
strait making so-called "dark" transits -- meaning they aren't turning on their 
Automatic Identification System trackers, which show where vessels are. Vessels 
carrying sanctioned Iranian crude often turn off their AIS trackers.

   The security firm Neptune P2P Group said Wednesday there had been seven 
ships pass through the strait since March 8. Of them, five were linked to 
Iranian-associated shipping, it said. In ordinary times the strait typically 
sees 100 ships or more transit daily from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of 
Oman.

   Meanwhile, the commodity-tracking firm Kpler said Iran has restarted crude 
exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. A tanker loaded 
roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on March 7, it said.

   Speculation over health of Iran's new supreme leader grows

   Concerns are growing over the health of Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah 
Mojtaba Khamenei after comments about him "being injured."

   The 56-year-old Khamenei -- the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali 
Khamenei -- has not been seen since becoming supreme leader on Monday. His 
father and wife both were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of 
the conflict.

   Foreign nationals flee region as death tolls rise

   In addition to the 570 killed in Lebanon, Iran has said that more than 1,300 
people have been killed there and Israel has reported 12 people dead.

   The U.S. 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 U.K. citizens, the British Foreign 
Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the 
State Department.