Trump says US Navy prepared to escort oil tankers in Gulf

Edited by Orla Ryan, James Wilson, Gavin Huang and Eli Meixler in Hong Kong and Alexandra White, Zehra Munir and Peter Wells in New YorkInterception of Iranian missile has been deployed across the Middle EastDonald Trump said the US military could begin escorting oil and gas tankers transiting the Gulf “if necessary” and “as soon as possible”. Naval warfare and energy experts said this would not happen immediately.Israel launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran. Trump said he “might have forced Israel’s hand” in launching offensive against Iran.Oil prices continue to rise. Asian stocks have slid. US stock markets ended Tuesday slightly lower, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both down about 1 per cent. The US consulate in Dubai was targeted in a drone attack. The US had earlier closed embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Beirut, with the state department telling Americans to leave the Middle East.Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.FT reportersIsrael has launched a wave of “extensive strikes” against Iranian launch sites, defence systems and infrastructure, the Israel Defense Forces said early on Wednesday.The Israeli military also said that it had identified missiles fired from Iran overnight. Defence systems are operating to intercept the missiles, it said.The IDF said the Air Force intercepted several projectiles fired from Lebanese territory. One fell in Israeli territory. No casualties were reported. James Politi in WashingtonThe US state department has urged Americans to “reconsider” travel to Oman, citing “armed conflict” and “terrorism” in its warning. The state department also authorised the departure of non-emergency US government personnel and family members from the country. Oman launched a last-ditch diplomatic effort to stop the war between the US and Iran but failed.William Sandlund in San FranciscoOil prices rose while Asian stocks declined for a third consecutive day early on Wednesday as the war in the Middle East widened. Futures for Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, rose 1.1 per cent to $82.36 a barrel. Gold rose 1.4 per cent to $5,155 a troy ounce.Asian stock markets declined with South Korea’s Kospi sliding 5.7 per cent and Japan’s Topix falling 3.7 per cent.The Korean won strengthened slightly following a central bank announcement that it would respond to moves in the forex market “to prevent herd-like behaviours”. On Tuesday the won fell to its weakest level since the global financial crisis. Futures tracking the S&P 500 and Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2 per cent and rose 0.6 per cent, respectively. The dollar rose 0.2 per cent against key trading partners while yields on 10-year Treasuries fell 0.01 percentage points to 4.05 per cent.Steff Chávez in Washington The US has hit almost 2,000 Iranian targets with more than 2,000 munitions since it began strikes against Iran, according to Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the region.In retaliation, Iran has fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones, he said.The US has also sunk 17 Iranian naval ships, including the regime’s most effective submarine, said Cooper. There are no Iranian warships in the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman.The US operation has involved more than 50,000 troops and 200 fighter jets, along with bombers and aircraft carriers.Cooper said the US has “severely degraded” Iran’s air defences and destroyed “hundreds” of ballistic missile launchers and drones, as well as destroyed missile facilities and command and control posts.Steff Chávez in Washington and Jamie Smyth in New YorkDonald Trump on Tuesday said US Navy ships would soon be prepared to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, but naval warfare experts and energy experts cautioned this was unlikely to happen immediately.It would likely take at least a week before warships could commence an escort operation, said Joshua Tallis, an analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses. “[It] probably would come only after the initial phase of major hostilities passes and likely following some additional strikes to further suppress Iranian anti-ship capabilities,” he said.It was also unclear how quickly the US could provide risk insurance and guarantees for tankers, which Trump has promised. Risks remain for tankers even if they have an escort of destroyers and aircraft.Jason Bordoff, director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, said: “US navy vessels can offer some amount of protection, but tankers are still vulnerable to small boats, drones or missile attacks in such a narrow waterway.”Josh Franklin in New YorkGoldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon has said he is “surprised” by the “benign” market reaction to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.“I look at the market reaction and I’m actually surprised,” Solomon said at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney, according to Bloomberg. “The market reaction has been benign.”He was also quoted as saying that it was “hard to speculate because there is so much that is unknown at this point” about the conflict.James Politi in WashingtonThe US military on Tuesday identified four of the six US troops killed since the start of the American war against Iran, confirming that they died in Kuwait from a drone attack.The Pentagon said Cody Khork, 35, of Florida, Noah Tietjens, 42, of Nebraska, Nicole Amor, 39, of Minnesota, and Declan Coady, 20, of Iowa, died on Sunday.

Ahmed Al Omran in JeddahQatar has arrested 10 suspects that it accused of working for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.Seven of the individuals allegedly gathered intelligence on the Gulf state’s vital military infrastructure while three others were allegedly assigned to conduct sabotage activities and trained in the use of drones, Qatar State Security said.Separately, authorities in Bahrain arrested several individuals who allegedly posted videos on social media where they expressed joy over Iranian missile and drone attacks against the island kingdom. The individuals were in custody pending an investigation, the public prosecution said.Lauren Fedor in WashingtonMarco Rubio appeared to row back on his comments from Monday, when he suggested Israel had dragged the US into conflict with Iran.“This was a question of timing, of why this had to happen as a joint operation, not the question of the intent,” the US secretary of state told reporters.Rubio also defended the pre-emptive nature of the strikes. “The president determined we were not going to get hit first,” he said, describing it as the “right” decision.“Iran is run by . . . religious fanatic lunatics. They have an ambition to have nuclear weapons . . . The president made the decision to go after, take away their missiles, take away their navy, take away their drones, take away their ability to make those things so that they can never have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.Kate Duguid in New YorkStocks and bonds recouped most of their losses on Tuesday even as fears of a prolonged shock to energy prices from the conflict in the Middle East rattled global markets.US stock markets ended the day slightly lower, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each down about 1 per cent, having fallen earlier in the day to their lowest levels in months.Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, settled 4.7 per cent higher at $81.40 a barrel, but trimmed its gains from earlier in the session after Donald Trump said the US Navy was prepared to escort oil tankers transiting the Gulf.Read more hereSteff Chávez in WashingtonDonald Trump said the US military could begin escorting oil and gas tankers transiting the Gulf “if necessary” and “as soon as possible”, as the administration seeks to calm energy markets.The US president said he had also ordered the US Development Finance Corporation to backstop insurance costs for companies with ships travelling through the waters.It will “provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, travelling through the Gulf. This will be available to all Shipping Lines,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.Iran has attacked energy infrastructure in the Gulf in retaliation for the US-Israeli attack and threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies, prompting fears of a new oil price shock.“No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD”, Trump wrote.Steff Chávez and Lauren Fedor in WashingtonSmoke rises near US consulate in Dubai, Rubio says parking lot hit The US consulate in Dubai has been targeted in a drone attack, with footage from the Emirate showing it caused a fire in the vicinity.US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the drone “unfortunately struck a parking lot adjacent to the chancery building, and then it set off a fire”. All personnel have been accounted for.The secretary of state was speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill before briefing senators on the military operations.Dubai’s media office said that “authorities have confirmed that a fire resulting from a drone-related incident near the US consulate has been successfully contained. Emergency teams responded immediately. No injuries have been reported”.Comments have not been enabled for this article.