US strikes Iran nuclear site city as Tehran hits oil tanker near Dubai

US strikes hit a city on Tuesday that is home to one of Irans main nuclear sites sending a massive fireball into the sky and Tehran attacked a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian GulfThe attacks were a testament to the intensity of the war more than a month after the US and Israel launched their first strikes The conflict has left more than 3000 dead and caused major disruptions to the worlds supply of oil and natural gas On Tuesday the average price of gasoline in the US shot past USD 4 a gallon just another sign of the wars effects far beyond the Middle EastUS President Donald Trump who has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war shared footage of the attack on Isfahan The central city is home to one of three nuclear enrichment sites attacked by the US in a 12day war in June and analysts believe much of Irans highly enriched uranium is likely stored thereThe war is roiling oil marketsIrans stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz the waterway leading out of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the worlds oil is transported during peacetime has driven up global oil prices as have Tehrans attacks on regional energy infrastructure That has shaken stock markets around the world and pushed up the cost of many basic goodsSpot prices of Brent crude the international standard hovered around USD 106 a barrel on Tuesday up more than 45 per cent since the war started Feb 28Trump warned this week that if a ceasefire is not reached shortly and if the strait is not reopened the US would broaden its offensive including by attacking the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plantsIsrael and the US launch a new wave of strikes on IranIsrael and the US launched a wave of strikes on Iran hitting Tehran in the early morningThe video shared by Trump appeared to show a massive attack on Isfahan and NASA firetracking satellites suggest explosions happened in a mountainous region on the citys southern edge Iran has not confirmed the attackA satellite image taken just before the June war suggests Tehran transferred a truckload of highly enriched uranium to a nuclear facility about 20 kilometres 12 miles from Tuesdays strikesAnalysts believe the truck which the image showed going into a tunnel loaded with 18 blue containers likely carried most or all of Irans stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent purity Thats a short technical step to weaponsgrade levelsIran hits oil tanker in waters off DubaiAn Iranian drone hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker in waters off the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai sparking a blaze that was later put out the Dubai Media Office said Authorities said no oil spill resultedFour people were also wounded when debris from an intercepted drone fell into a residential area and loud explosions could be heard later from another attack on DubaiAir raid sirens sounded in Bahrain while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three ballistic missiles launched toward its capital Loud explosions were also heard in Israel not long after the military warned of an incoming missile barrage from IranGulf allies of the United States that have been hit hard have urged Trump to continue the conflict until Irans military capabilities are destroyed according to US Gulf and Israeli officialsIn response to that growing anger Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted Tuesday that Tehran is only targeting US forces in the regionOur operations are aimed at enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians nor can they provide any security Araghchi wrote on XPeacekeepers killed in Lebanon as Israel battles HezbollahThe UN Security Council planned to convene an emergency session on Tuesday after officials said three peacekeepers in southern Lebanon had been killed in less than 24 hours during Israels invasion thereThe UN peacekeeping mission in the country where Israel is battling the Iranbacked Hezbollah did not say who was responsible for the deathsIn Iran authorities say more than 1900 people have been killed while 19 have been reported dead in IsraelTwo dozen people have died in the Gulf states and the occupied West Bank In Lebanon officials said more than 1200 people have been killed and more than 1 million displacedTen Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon including the four announced Tuesday while 13 US service members have been killed