![]() |
|
Trump hints end of Iran war in sight, saying operations 'very complete' Tehran, March 9 (AFP) Mar 09, 2026 President Donald Trump indicated for the first time Monday that US military operations in Iran could be coming to an end, saying the war was "very complete" and progressing ahead of schedule. The war had sent stock markets slumping and oil prices soaring again on Monday as Tehran, under new leader Mojtaba Khamenei, fired a new barrage of missiles at its Gulf neighbours and signalled that the strategic Strait of Hormuz would likely remain closed. But Wall Street vaulted into positive territory Monday after Trump's remarks, despite the lack of details on any solution to the conflict still raging in the Middle East. "I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they've got no air force," Trump told CBS News by phone, repeating battle damage assessments that he has given in previous days. Trump told the US broadcaster that the United States was "very far" ahead of his initially stated timeframe for the war of four or five weeks. He is set to give a press conference shortly at around 5:30 pm (2130 GMT) in the ballroom of his Doral golf club near Miami. On the first day in power for the 56-year-old son of slain leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian troops mustered a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Israel. Another missile was also fired at NATO member Turkey, the second such incident in five days, with the alliance's air defences intercepting it before it could hit its target. With the Strait of Hormuz off Iran blocked for almost all oil tankers, the price of benchmark crude oil contracts rocketed past $100 a barrel on Monday -- their highest levels since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 -- before edging back slightly. French President Emmanuel Macron said that his country and its allies were working on a "purely defensive" mission to reopen the strait, through which nearly 20 percent of the world's crude oil usually transits. The mission would be aimed at escorting ships "after the end of the hottest phase of the conflict", but experts say it would mean putting navy vessels at risk of incoming fire from the nearby Iranian coast. Kamal Kharazi, a foreign policy adviser to Iran's supreme leader, told CNN that Tehran was calculating that "the economic pressure will be beefed up to the extent that other countries intervene" to end the war. Benchmark oil prices are up 40-50 percent since the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran on February 28, while stock markets around the world are down, hitting pension funds and savings. Inflation caused by a sustained oil shock would also push up the price of goods for consumers everywhere. Queues at petrol stations have been seen as far afield as Vietnam and the Philippines as drivers anticipate higher prices, while Hungary and Croatia in the EU announced fuel price caps.
Iranian state media carried images of tens of thousands of people celebrating Mojtaba Khamenei's selection in central Tehran on Monday, many carrying his picture. Iran's rebel Houthi allies in Yemen and the Hezbollah armed group in Lebanon pledged allegiance, while Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday promised "unwavering support". Unconfirmed US media reports over the weekend said that Moscow has been providing targeting intelligence to the Islamic republic's military. Trump told the New York Post newspaper he was "not happy" about Khamenei's appointment, while Israel's foreign ministry called him a "tyrant". Ali Ansari, a professor of Iranian history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, told AFP the new supreme leader was a hardliner who had "been involved in all the most violent repressions that have taken place over the last 15-16 years". Ali Vaez, of the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, said the appointment was intended to send a defiant message that Trump's war "has only replaced one Khamenei with another".
About 10 vessels in or near the Strait of Hormuz have come under attack since Iran blocked the waterway in retaliation for the US-Israeli attack, shipping experts say. Global shipping giant MSC announced that it was formally halting some export shipments from the Gulf, meaning goods sitting on ships would be unloaded. Following strikes on Bahrain's Al Ma'ameer oil facility that ignited a fire, the country's state-owned energy company Bapco joined its counterparts in Qatar and Kuwait in declaring "force majeure" -- a warning that events beyond its control may lead it to miss export targets. The Saudi defence ministry said Monday it had thwarted a drone attack targeting an oil field in the kingdom's east, near the Emirati border.
At least one Israeli was killed when he was hit by shrapnel, emergency services said. The multi-front war also intensified in Lebanon, which was dragged into the conflict last week when Israel and Hezbollah began trading fire. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday accused Hezbollah of working to "collapse" the state, while the head of the group's parliamentary bloc said it had "no other option to preserve honour, pride and dignity than the option of resistance". Lebanese authorities said on Monday that Israel's attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded at least 1,313. burs-adp/smw |
|
|
Sidekick autonomy software guides YFQ-42A test mission for CCA program
Infleqtion lists shares on NYSE as neutral atom quantum firm
Top Chinese gaming companies continue to challenge |
Japan startup's space rocket fails for third time
Tourism on hold as Middle East war casts uncertainty
Sateliot books Spanish Miura 5 launch for two next gen Trito satellites in 2027 |
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4798-4803: Back for More Science
UAE extends Mars probe mission until 2028
Mars relay orbiter seen as backbone for future exploration |
Why have 1,000 ships at times lost their GPS in the Mideast?
Vantor adds Google Earth AI models to Tensorglobe for secure mission support
ASII launches national geospatial digital twin for Australian agriculture |
Japan to deploy counter-strike missiles closer to China
NATO intercepts second Iran missile in Turkish airspace
Zelensky says 11 countries asking Ukraine for drone help against Iran |
Blazar population may power record energy neutrino
Study questions assumptions about hidden alien technosignals
Dusty early galaxies shed new light on how the universe built its first giants |
NASA announces overhaul of Artemis lunar program amid technical delays
New Wenchang lunar pad completes first Long March 10 test
Aitech and Teledyne expand partnership on space grade SP1 computing platform |
Left, right and faithful unite to demand human control over AI
Europe should focus on industrial AI, SAP says
Questions over AI capability as tech guides Iran strikes |
New hunt for flight MH370 ends with no clues to 12-year mystery
Valen array advances multi-mission sensing tech
Satellite radar maps reveal rapid delta land loss |
Sri Lanka hospital releases 22 rescued from torpedoed Iranian vessel
Nepal's rapper-led centrist party heads for poll landslide
Bangladesh rations fuel as Mideast war deepens energy crunch |
Zelensky says 11 countries asking Ukraine for drone help against Iran
Four years after banning Russia, FIFA and IOC passive in the face of war
Russian hackers 'targeting messaging apps': Dutch spies |
China says opposes any targeting of new Iran leader
Japan to deploy counter-strike missiles closer to China
China slams Taiwan PM visit to Japan |
|
All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.
|