Iran War Enters Seventeenth Day: Nations Wary about Helping with Hormuz

The War with Iran entered its seventeenth day on Monday with no clear end in sight, as global energy markets remained disrupted.

Israel said yesterday that it has operational plans for at least three more weeks of war as overnight airstrikes hit sites across Iran, while Iran launched drone and missile attacks across the Gulf. 

“We have thousands of targets ahead,” an Israeli military spokesman told CNN on Sunday. “We are ready, in coordination with our U.S. allies, with plans through at least the Jewish holiday of Passover, about three weeks from now.”

All flights were suspended at Dubai International Airport on Sunday after a drone struck nearby. Dubai’s Civil Aviation Authority said on Monday morning that flights are “gradually resuming.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call Monday morning that recent U.S. strikes on Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island were launched from Gulf state territory, echoing earlier accusations by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The UAE rejected the claim.

Pezeshkian told Macron that the region’s instability is the consequence of “hostile actions” by Israel and the United States. He said Iran had “not sought escalation or conflict” but would defend its territorial integrity and national security.

After President Donald Trump called for other countries — including China — to send warships to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz, Japan announced that it is “not considering” joining. And while Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani, told reporters in Brussels that Italy backs EU naval missions in the Red Sea, the minister rejected the same operations in Hormuz, adding, commenting, “I don’t think these missions can be expanded to include the strait of Hormuz.”

Trump, speaking about U.S. efforts to rally a coalition, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that other countries “were contacted today and last night, but we’ve had some positive response. We had a few that would rather not get involved.”

Brent crude oil climbed to $103 on Monday morning while gas prices continued to rise, with AAA reporting the national average gas price on Monday at $3.72.

Israeli forces launched dozens of attacks across southern Lebanon and parts of the Beqaa Valley in the eastern part of the country on Sunday, striking more than 30 sites with airstrikes, drones, and artillery, according to the latest tally from local journalists.

The post Iran War Enters Seventeenth Day: Nations Wary about Helping with Hormuz appeared first on The American Conservative.