Israel Strikes ‘Decimate’ Iran as War Roils Markets

Israel unleashed another barrage on Tehran this morning, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Iran was being “decimated,” even as fresh attacks rattled Gulf states.

The Iranian capital, pummeled on an almost daily basis since a joint U.S.-Israeli operation ignited the war on 28 February, was struck in raids the Israeli military said were “targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime”.

The strikes followed Mr Netanyahu’s assertion that the conflict, approaching its fourth week, had wiped out the Islamic republic’s ability to enrich uranium or produce ballistic missiles.

“We are winning and Iran is being decimated,” the Israeli premier said at a press conference.

Explosions echoed over Jerusalem last night after the Israeli military reported detecting three rounds of Iranian missile launches, with no casualties reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference

The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported missile attacks, and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted more than a dozen drones early this morning as Gulf nations began marking Eid al-Fitr, which ends the Ramadan fast.

The war, which has killed hundreds and displaced thousands, has rapidly spilled into Lebanon, where Israel has mounted regular strikes in response to rocket fire from Hezbollah, Iran’s ally.

Lebanon’s health ministry said fatalities from Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as on Beirut and its southern suburbs, have surpassed 1,000.

During talks yesterday with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun renewed a call for a truce between Israel and Hezbollah and for negotiations to open — a move France’s president later said hinged on Israel agreeing to take part.

At home, Mr Netanyahu has seen support rise as the conflict diverts attention from the Gaza war, reiterating that Israel is “winning” against Iran.

“I also see this war ending a lot faster than people think,” he said, without providing a specific timeframe.

Talk of ‘cracks’ in Iran

Mr Netanyahu said Israel perceives “cracks” within Iran’s leadership and is seeking to exploit them.

“Mojtaba, the replacement ayatollah, has not shown his face,” he said, referring to Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war.

Muslim worshippers gather outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls to attend the early morning prayers for Eid al-Fitr

Tehran has intensified strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure in recent days, unnerving markets and stoking fears of a new inflation shock.

Energy traders were jolted after Iranian missiles hit Qatar’s vast Ras Laffan natural gas hub in retaliation for Israel’s raid this week on the South Pars gas field.

Iran responded that it would have “zero restraint” if its energy sites were hit again, having already constricted the Strait of Hormuz — the vital passageway for around a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas in peacetime.

The Ras Laffan strike caused “extensive damage” that Qatar’s state energy company said could erase $20 billion a year in revenue and take five years to repair.

Fears over supply have driven gas prices sharply higher and kept oil hovering near $100 a barrel.

There was a sliver of optimism this morning as crude eased in early Asia trading after Mr Netanyahu suggested the war could end sooner than many anticipated.

Still, the Gulf remained under fire: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted U.S. forces at the UAE’s Al-Dhafra air base.

Drone attacks ignited a blaze at Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery, state media reported, noting several units were shut as firefighters battled the flames.

Across the region, many ended Ramadan on a somber note, rattled by conflict and rising costs.

“There’s nothing to celebrate,” said Aziza Ahmad, who has cancelled her family’s normal plans for a festive meal and gifts for the children, her small Beirut apartment hosting several displaced relatives.

“Maybe it’s different for the rich, but the joy of Eid is missing here… We have no money, and the displaced people can’t even go back home,” she said.

In Iran, people marked the Nowruz spring new year alongside the final day of Ramadan, with state media saying Eid would be observed tomorrow.

No set timetable

US President Donald Trump indicated he did not know in advance about Israel’s raid on South Pars, which supplies about 70% of Iran’s domestic needs.

“We get along great. It’s coordinated, but on occasion, he’ll do something” that Washington opposes, Mr Trump said.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel acted alone in the strike and would honor Mr Trump’s request to pause future attacks on the gas field.

Mr Trump warned that the United States would “blow up” South Pars if Tehran did not stop attacking Qatar but said there was no current plan to send ground troops into Iran.

Mr Netanyahu indicated that changing the government in Tehran would require “a ground component”, without elaborating.

“There are many possibilities for this ground component and I take the liberty of not sharing (those) with you,” he said.

Amid mounting worries over the economic fallout, President Emmanuel Macron said France plans to consult the UN Security Council’s permanent members on a framework to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz — but only once the fighting stops.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said there was no clear end in sight for the war.

“We wouldn’t want to set a definitive timeframe,” he told reporters.

“It will be at the president’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to.'”