President Donald Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil” as the conflict with Iran and its closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent average U.S. gas prices past $4 a gallon.
The social media post came after U.S. strikes hit the central city of Isfahan, sending a massive fireball into the sky, and Tehran attacked a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.
The attacks showed the intensity of the war more than a month after the U.S. and Israel launched it. The conflict has left more than 3,000 dead and caused major disruptions to the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, roiling global markets and pushing up the cost of many basic goods.
Trump, who has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war, had earlier shared footage of the attack on Isfahan.
Fuel prices rise, rattling global markets
Iran’s stranglehold on the strait, the waterway leading out of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported during peacetime, has driven up global oil prices, as have Tehran’s attacks on regional energy infrastructure.
Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, hovered around $107 a barrel Tuesday, up more than 45% since the war started Feb. 28.
Trump directed blame at U.S. allies like the United Kingdom and France that have refused to enter a war with no clear endgame that they were not consulted on.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” Trump wrote.
He singled out France for not letting planes fly over French territory while taking military supplies to Israel.
France has allowed the U.S. Air Force to use the Istres base in southern France because it had guarantees that planes landing there would not be involved in carrying out strikes.
Allies have refused to get involved
Spain, which has emerged as Europe’s loudest critic of the war, said Monday that it had closed its airspace for U.S. planes involved in the conflict.
Italy recently refused to allow U.S. military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for an operation linked to the offensive, an official with knowledge of the matter said, confirming a local press report. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto wrote on X that Italy is still allowing the U.S. to use its bases, adding that there has been no cooling of relations between the two countries.
Journalist kidnapped in Iraq identified
In Iraq, officials said an American journalist was kidnapped, and Iraqi security forces were pursuing her captors.
Al-Monitor, a regional news site covering the Middle East, identified the journalist kidnapped Tuesday in Baghdad as Shelly Kittleson, a freelancer who contributed to the publication. In a statement, Al-Monitor said it was “deeply alarmed” by her kidnapping and stands by her “vital reporting.”
Kittleson has been a longtime freelancer in the region, reporting extensively from Syria and Iraq.
Two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed, and a person inside was apprehended. The car carrying the journalist fled, two Iraqi security officials said.
The U.S. State Department said the administration was closely tracking the reports but had nothing further to share. It was not immediately clear if the kidnapping was related to the Iran war.
US has not ruled out ground forces
Trump warned this week that if a ceasefire is not reached “shortly,” and if the strait is not reopened, the U.S. would broaden its offensive, including by attacking the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants.
Speaking at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would not say if U.S. ground forces would enter the war. “We don’t want to have to do more militarily than we have to,” he said.
A ground invasion could alienate Iranians who despise the ruling theocracy and who rose up in mass protests that were crushed earlier this year. Some could see it as an attack on Iran itself and rally around the flag.
A young anti-government activist in Iran said he plans to volunteer with the army if Trump follows through on such threats.
“If the idea of occupying islands or part of my country’s territory is implemented, I will definitely be available as a soldier to defend the Iranian nation,” said the 25-year-old resident of the northern town of Babol, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for retribution.
Imprisoned Iranian Nobel laureate may have suffered heart attack
Supporters of imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi said she may have suffered a heart attack.
The campaign for her release, citing fellow inmates at Zanjan Prison in northern Iran, said she was found unconscious last week. Mohammadi has a heart condition and suffered multiple heart attacks while imprisoned before undergoing emergency surgery in 2022, her supporters say.
“Despite this medical emergency, and evident indications of a heart attack, authorities refused to transfer Mohammadi to a hospital or allow her to visit a specialist,” the campaign said in a statement.
Mohammadi, 53, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her decades of activism. She has campaigned for women’s rights and democracy, and against the death penalty.
Iran hits oil tanker as Israel strikes Iran and Lebanon
Israel and the U.S. launched a wave of strikes on Iran, hitting Tehran in the early morning.
The Israeli military said it had launched strikes targeting what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel plans to control the area south of the Litani River — some 20 miles (about 30 kilometers) north of the border.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after Hezbollah began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the wider war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.
An Iranian drone hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker 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 resulted.
Four people were wounded by debris from an intercepted drone in Dubai, air 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 Iran.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
Two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank. In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed, and more than 1 million displaced.
Ten Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon, including the four announced Tuesday, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
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Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, and Superville from Washington. David Rising in Bangkok, Abby Sewell and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Amir-Hussein Radjy in Cairo, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.
