Both sides harden stance as Iran war nears two-week mark

The leaders of Iran, Israel and the United States all voiced defiance and vowed to fight on as the war approached the two-week mark on Friday, killing thousands of people, disrupting the lives of millions of others and shaking financial markets.

Iran will fight on and keep the Strait of Hormuz shut as leverage against the United States and Israel, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday in his first defiant comments since he succeeded his slain father.

In Iran, Khamenei did not appear in person and his remarks were read out by a state television presenter.

Khamenei's statement called on Iran's neighbors to shut US bases on their territory and warned that Iran would continue to target them.

"The popular demand is to continue our effective defense and make the enemy regret it. The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used," Khamenei said, referring to the shipping route through which a fifth of global oil normally passes along Iran's coast.

In an interview with AFP, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said: "Some countries have already talked to us about passing the strait (the Strait of Hormuz) and we have cooperated with them," while denying Iran is laying mines in the strait.

Netanyahu's threats

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his first press conference since the start of the war to make his own strong statement, issuing a veiled threat to kill Khamenei and defending the military assault on Iran, which has claimed thousands of lives and shaken energy and stock markets.

"I wouldn't issue life insurance policies on any of the leaders of the terrorist organization. I don't intend to give an exact message here about what we are planning or what we are going to do," Netanyahu said.

Oil crisis

Iran has said it will not let oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz until US and Israeli attacks cease, but Trump played down the higher prices.

"The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of ​money," Trump wrote on social media.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News in an interview that the US Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, would escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz when it is militarily possible.

The prospect of one of the most severe disruptions ever to global energy supplies enduring sent oil prices up about 9% to $100 a barrel, after falling earlier in the week on hopes ​of a swift end to the conflict.

A spokesperson for Iran's military command said on Wednesday the world should prepare for oil prices of $200 a barrel.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, with the S&P 500 notching its biggest three-day percentage drop in a month.

Tit-for-tat strikes continue

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday its navy had hit the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain's Mina Salman port with missiles and drones.

The IRGC added that it carried out precision strikes with its drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles against an anti-drone system and a depot of remotely operated underwater vehicles, among others.

Ebrahim Jabbari, an IRGC commander, said in an interview with Al Mayadeen that Iran possesses significant capabilities and resources to sustain a prolonged war.

Jabbari also stated that 70% of US bases and military facilities in the region have been destroyed, without providing further details.

Israel said on Thursday it had struck checkpoints in Tehran of the Basij, the IRGC's voluntary militia.

On another front in the unpredictable war, the Israeli military said on Thursday night that it "completed several waves of strikes" against Hezbollah command centers in Beirut and southern Lebanon.

So far the ‌war has killed more than 2,000 people, including almost 700 in Lebanon.

Data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicate that between 600,000 and 1 million Iranian households have been temporarily displaced within the country due to the ongoing conflict. This preliminary assessment suggests that approximately 3.2 million people are affected.

(With input from agencies)