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Several U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump\u2019s call on Monday to \u200bsend warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support.<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in \u200csight. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world\u2019s oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.<\/p>\n The conflict has already imposed economic costs on U.S. allies, who were not consulted before the airstrikes on Iran and who have endured months of harsh criticism and bellicose threats from Trump since he returned to office.<\/p>\n A number of U.S. partners, including Germany, Spain and Italy, said they had no immediate plans to send ships to help reopen the strategic waterway, which Iran has effectively shut with drones and naval mines.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lack the mandate from the \u200bUnited Nations, the European Union or NATO required under the Basic Law,\u201d German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin, adding that Washington and Israel had not consulted Germany before launching the war.<\/p>\n Trump, speaking at a White House event in Washington, \u200bsaid many countries had told him they were prepared to help, but voiced frustration with some long\u2011standing allies.<\/p>\n \u201cSome are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren\u2019t,\u201d he said, without offering specifics. \u201cSome \u2060are countries that we\u2019ve helped for many, many years. We\u2019ve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren\u2019t that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me.\u201d<\/p>\n ISRAEL STILL HAS \u2018THOUSANDS\u2019 OF TARGETS IN IRAN<\/strong><\/p>\n Israel said on Monday it had drawn up \u200bdetailed plans for at least three more weeks of war as it pounded sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n Israel troops pushed into new parts of southern Lebanon, \u200bpart of an expanding operation after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran\u2019s supreme leader.<\/p>\n In a joint statement, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain warned that any \u201csignificant Israeli ground offensive would have devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict,\u201d and that such an operation \u201cmust be averted.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel has said it wants to weaken Iran\u2019s capacity to threaten it, striking ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities and the security apparatus, and that it still has thousands of targets to hit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and \u200bthat we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment,\u201d Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would target U.S. industrial facilities in the Middle East and urged people living \u200bnear U.S.-owned plants to leave.<\/p>\n Iran also responded to Trump\u2019s threat that he might attack oil facilities on Kharg Island, the country\u2019s main oil hub, if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces destroyed military targets on Kharg on Friday.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the armed \u200cforces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, \u2060said Iran would target oil and gas facilities in any country from which U.S. attacks were launched on Kharg Island.<\/p>\n Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had not asked for a ceasefire or exchanged messages with the U.S., according to Iran\u2019s semi-official Student News Network.<\/p>\n In a post on X, Araqchi also said some \u201cneighbouring states\u201d that host U.S. forces and permit attacks on Iran were actively encouraging the killing of Iranians.<\/p>\n He said 200 children were among the hundreds of Iranian civilians killed in U.S. or Israeli bombings.<\/p>\n Rescue workers in Tehran worked to pull people from the wreckage of a building in what an Iranian Red Crescent aid worker said was an entirely residential alleyway.<\/p>\n ISRAEL CLAIMS STRIKES ON IRAN\u2019S SPACE PROGRAM<\/strong><\/p>\n Israel said its air force had struck sites linked to Iran\u2019s space program, \u200bincluding destroying a research facility in Tehran involved in developing a \u200bsatellite launched in 2024.<\/p>\n One Tehran resident told Reuters that \u2060there had been no internet overnight and Iranians felt isolated from the world.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are being killed,\u201d Shahnaz, 62, said via WhatsApp. \u201cJust days before Nowruz (Iranian New Year, on March 20), but people are not in the mood to celebrate. When will this end?\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if she supported the Islamic Republic, Shahnaz said: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t. How can I? They killed my granddaughter in (January\u2019s) protests. We want this \u200bregime to go. We want this misery to end.\u201d<\/p>\n In Tel Aviv, air raid sirens sounded late into the night, warning of incoming Iranian missiles and underscoring that, after more than \u200btwo weeks of war, Tehran still \u2060retained the capacity to carry out long-range attacks. The IRGC said earlier that Iran had launched strikes on areas in Tel Aviv, the U.S. Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. naval base in Bahrain and Bahrain\u2019s Sheikh Isa Air Base.<\/p>\n On the UAE\u2019s coast along the Gulf of Oman, oil loading operations at the port of Fujairah partially resumed after an Iranian drone strike. Fujairah is a key exit point for the UAE\u2019s Murban crude \u2013 a volume equivalent to roughly 1% of global demand.<\/p>\n Flights at Dubai International Airport, one of \u2060the world\u2019s busiest, \u200bwere suspended for several hours after a drone strike on a nearby fuel storage facility sent plumes of black smoke into the sky. Saudi Arabia \u200bintercepted 34 drones in its eastern region in one hour, state media said. No injuries were reported in either incident.<\/p>\n Despite the turbulence, oil prices , , which had been above $100 a barrel, fell and stocks rallied after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the U.S. was \u201cfine\u201d to let some Iranian fuel vessels through the strait, \u200band believed Indian and Chinese tankers had also passed through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n