Heaviest day of strikes yet on Iran despite market bets that war will end soon
The United States and Israel pounded Iran on March 10 with what the Pentagon and Iranians on the ground called the most intense airstrikes of the war, despite global markets betting that president Donald Trump will seek to end the conflict soon.
Raising the stakes for the global economy, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they would block oil shipments from the Gulf unless US and Israeli attacks cease.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also said it launched missiles on Tuesday evening at Qatar's US-operated Al Udeid base and the Al Harir base in Iraq's Kurdistan.
But the White House reiterated Trump's threat to hit Iran hard over moves to stop the flow of energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, where the war has effectively halted one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, and repeated his offer for the US Navy to safely escort tankers.
"Today will be yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever," US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing.
In a message posted to his Truth Social platform later in the day, Trump said, "Within the last few hours, we have hit, and completely destroyed" 10 of Iran's "inactive" mine-laying vessels. He did not clarify where the strikes occurred.
'Like hell'
Tehran residents reached by Reuters described the war's most intense night of bombardment.
"It was like hell. They were bombing everywhere, every part of Tehran," a resident said by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. "My children are afraid to sleep now."
In Tehran's east, two five-storey residential buildings were hit on Monday, blasting out floors and walls and leaving a rickety concrete frame. Footage from Iran's Red Crescent showed rescuers there carrying a victim in a body bag. Workers were still recovering bodies at the site on Tuesday when a missile struck a road intersection nearby.
Yet with Trump having described the war on Monday as "very complete, pretty much," investors appeared convinced he would end it soon—before the disruption to global energy supplies caused a worldwide economic meltdown.
A historic surge in crude oil prices on Monday to nearly $120 (P7,000) a barrel was reversed as Brent crude LCOc1 settled back down below $90 (P5,300) on Tuesday. Asian and European share prices staged a partial recovery from earlier precipitous falls, and Wall Street bounced around its late February levels, before the war.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that the American public will see oil and gas prices drop rapidly once the objectives of the joint Israeli-US air war are fully achieved.
A source familiar with Israel's war plans told Reuters the Israeli military wanted to inflict as much damage as possible before the window for further strikes closes, under the assumption Trump could end the war at any time.
Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the war would proceed until his country and the US determine the time had come to cease hostilities, but that Israel was not seeking an "endless war."
"We will continue until the minute that we, and our partners, think that it is appropriate to stop," he said.
Trump press conference appears to reassure markets
Iran has refused to bow to Trump's demand that it let the United States choose its new leadership, naming hardliner Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader to replace his father, who was killed on the war's first day.
But occasionally contradictory remarks from Trump at a Monday press conference seemed to reassure markets he would stop the war before provoking an economic crisis like those that followed the Middle East oil shocks of the 1970s. He said the US had already inflicted serious damage and predicted the conflict would end before the four weeks he initially set out.
Trump has not defined what victory would look like, but on Monday did not repeat declarations that Iran must let him choose its leader.
Several congressional aides have said they expect the White House to soon request as much as $50 billion (P2.9 trillion) in additional funding for the war.
The US used $5.6 billion (P330 billion) in munitions in the first two days of strikes against Iran, a source familiar with the information said on Tuesday.
Iranian defiance
Several senior Iranian officials voiced defiance on Tuesday.
"Certainly, we are not seeking a ceasefire; we believe the aggressor must be struck in the mouth so that they learn a lesson," Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on X.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told PBS that Tehran was unlikely to resume negotiations with the US.
At the White House, Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that Trump and his energy team were closely watching the markets and consulting with industry leaders while military leaders devised "additional options" for opening the Strait of Hormuz.
The deliberations reflect White House concerns that rising oil prices will undermine the US economy ahead of the November midterm elections, when Trump's fellow Republicans hope to retain control of Congress.
But a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guards said Tehran would not allow "one litre" of Middle Eastern oil to reach the US or its allies while US and Israeli attacks continue.
"We are the ones who will determine the end of the war," the spokesperson said.
Quick end to war could leave Iran's leaders in place
Ending the war quickly would appear to preclude toppling Iran's leadership, which held large-scale rallies on Monday in support of the new supreme leader.
Many Iranians want change and some openly celebrated the death of the elder Khamenei, weeks after his security forces killed thousands of people to put down anti-government protests. But there has been little sign of protest during the war.
More than 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed since the US and Israeli airstrikes began on Feb. 28, according to Iran's U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani. He said nearly 8,000 homes have been destroyed, along with 1,600 "commercial and service centers" and dozens of medical, educational and energy-supply facilities.
The intention of US and Israeli strikes is "to terrorize civilians, massacre innocent people, and cause maximum destruction and suffering," the ambassador said.
Scores have also been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon to root out the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which has fired into Israel in solidarity with Iran.
Iranian strikes on Israel have killed 12 people. Iran has struck US military bases and diplomatic missions in Arab Gulf states but also hit hotels, closed airports and damaged oil infrastructure.
In addition to the six US soldiers killed at the outset of the conflict, the Pentagon on Tuesday estimated that about 140 American troops have been wounded, the vast majority of them characterized as minor.
The Defense Department previously said eight US military personnel had been seriously injured.