Trump talks of global coalition to secure Strait of Hormuz

Iran FM calls on neighbours to expel US forces; US embassy attacked in Baghdad, strikes hit Iran-backed fighters

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Agencies March 15, 2026 6 min read

Smoke rises from the direction of an energy installation in the Gulf emirate of Fujairah. Photo: AFP

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WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/BAGHDAD:

US President Donald Trump urged other nations to help secure a vital shipping lane choked off by the war with Iran that showed no signs of slowing on Saturday as strikes hit the US embassy in Baghdad and a major Emirati energy facility, with Iran threatening to reduce US-linked oil facilities to "a pile of ashes" as the two-week-old Middle East war spilled over into a global oil price crisis.

Oil prices have surged by 40 per cent as Iran has choked off the vital Strait of Hormuz and attacked Gulf energy facilities.

Clouds of black smoke rose on Saturday over Fujairah, home to a major Emirati oil storage and export terminal, AFP journalists saw, shortly after Iran's military warned UAE civilians to avoid port areas.

Washington's embassy in Iraq was hit by a drone, security sources told AFP, the second time it has been targeted in the war, and the Emirati consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan was also struck for the second time in a week.

Five United States Air Force aerial refuelling aircraft were damaged during an Iranian missile strike on a key military installation in Saudi Arabia, according to US officials familiar with the incident.

The aircraft were struck while parked at Prince Sultan Air Base, a major facility hosting American forces in Saudi Arabia. Officials said the attack occurred during a wave of Iranian missile launches targeting US military assets across the region in recent days.

Having earlier vowed that the US Navy would "very soon" start escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump appeared to call for reinforcements on Saturday.

"Many countries... will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe," he wrote on Truth Social, saying China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK would "hopefully" be among them.

US forces struck Kharg Island on Friday, from which nearly all of Iran's oil is exported, with Trump saying they had "obliterated every MILITARY target", though sparing its energy facilities.

The strike on Kharg could be a turning point, with both sides escalating the conflict in a bid to force a surrender, analyst Vali Nasr of Johns Hopkins University said on social media.

"The end will likely not be Iranian backing off but inflaming the Gulf."

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strikes showed the war was entering a "decisive phase", though he cautioned it would "continue as long as necessary".

Yet, despite facing superior US and Israeli firepower, Iran appeared determined to fight on.

Blasts were heard by AFP journalists over Jerusalem after the military detected missiles launched from Iran on Saturday.

Qatar evacuated downtown areas and intercepted two missiles, with blasts heard by AFP journalists.

Hamas urged Iran to refrain from targeting Gulf neighbours, many of which have supported its cause. It was a rare breach between the allies, though Hamas affirmed Tehran's right to defend itself.

Iran continued to face heavy bombardment with local media reporting strikes in several provinces through Saturday.

Israel's military, meanwhile, warned people in an industrial zone of Tabriz in northern Iran to evacuate, signalling an imminent attack.

Iran's health ministry says more than 1,200 people have been killed by US and Israeli attacks, numbers that could not be independently verified, while up to 3.2 million people have been displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.

Trump described Iran as "totally defeated" and in search of a deal he was unwilling to consider.

More than 15,000 targets in Iran have been hit by the US and Israel, the Pentagon said. A report this week said the first six days alone cost the US $11.3 billion, while 13 military personnel have died in the war.

Transition

US media raised the possibility of American troops on the ground in Iran, with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reporting the Pentagon had dispatched the Japan-based amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli to the region along with around 2,500 Marines.

In Iran, the country's rulers appeared intent on showing they would survive the war and maintain control, despite their supreme leader Ali Khamenei being killed on the opening day.

Iranian foreign minister

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mocked the United States on Saturday, claiming that it was now "begging others" to make the Strait of Hormuz safe again.

In a post on X, he said: "Touted US security umbrella has proven to be full of holes and inviting rather than deterring trouble. US is now begging others, even China, to help it make Hormuz safe. Iran calls on brotherly neighbours to expel foreign aggressors, especially as their only concern is Israel."

Similarly, Alireza Tangsiri, naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said: "The Americans falsely claimed to have destroyed Iran's navy. Then they falsely claimed to be escorting oil tankers. Now they are asking others for reinforcements. Of course, we remind that the Strait of Hormuz has not yet been militarily closed — it is merely being controlled."

Araghchi also separately said that US attacks on Kharg island on Friday made it "crystal clear that they are using the territory of our neighbours to attack us by this kind of rockets, and this is absolutely unacceptable".

He said the attacks were tracked by Iranian forces. "Now it is clear that they are fired from the UAE — from two locations in the UAE — from Ras Al Khaimah and from a location very close to the city of Dubai. And it is very dangerous that they use highly populated areas to launch rockets against us," Araghchi added.

Earlier, President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed to rebuild everything destroyed in air strikes by Israel and the US even better than before as the conflict in the Middle East grinds on.

In a post on X, he said: "Fifteen days have passed since the imposed and unjust war, and despite the transportation, communication, and other challenges, thanks to our colleagues in the government, no serious disruption in service delivery to the people has occurred. With the companionship of you noble people of Iran, we will overcome these conditions and rebuild everything they have destroyed even better than before."

The comments came after US President Donald Trump said that warships from the American military and other countries were on their way to ensure the Strait of Hormuz remained "open and safe" for traffic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on Saturday for neighbouring countries to expel US forces from the Middle East.

The US security umbrella in the region "has proven to be full of holes and inviting rather than deterring trouble," the top diplomat posted on X, adding that Iran called on its neighbours "to expel foreign aggressors".

Iran will target American companies in the region if its energy facilities are attacked in the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday.

"Our Armed Forces have already answered that they would retaliate if our oil and energy infrastructure are attacked," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told MS NOW.

Iran "will attack any energy infrastructure in the region which belongs to an American company or an American company is a shareholder," he added.

The US embassy in Baghdad was hit by an attack on Saturday following strikes that killed three members of a powerful Iran-backed group in the capital, security sources said.

Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, was quickly dragged into the Middle East war triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

A cloud of black smoke rose above the US diplomatic mission shortly after the sound of explosions on Saturday morning, an AFP journalist said.

Two security officials told AFP the embassy complex was struck by a drone.

The US embassy did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on the incident.

It is the second time the US embassy has come under attack in Baghdad since the start of the war.