State Department tells Americans worldwide to 'exercise increased caution'
The war entered its fourth week on Saturday.
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israel strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes and his son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed him. Iran is responding with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and multiple Gulf nations. Iran is also attempting to block some shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel is also intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
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Key Headlines
- Strait of Hormuz 'is not closed,' Iranian foreign minister says
- Iran says Strait of Hormuz open to all except 'enemies,' state media, Iranian president say
- 'Iran endangers the entire world,' Netanyahu says
- Iran warns of retaliatory strikes if US attacks power plants, state media says
- Trump threatens to 'hit and obliterate' Iranian power plants if Strait of Hormuz not opened in 48 hours
IEA recommends fuel conserving measures as Iran war continues
The International Energy Agency has released “a range of demand-side actions that governments, businesses and households can take to alleviate the economic impacts on consumers of the disruptions to oil markets stemming from the war in the Middle East," in a new report released Friday.
Top of the list was working from home. Other recommendations include reducing car travel, cutting down on business air travel and cooking with electricity rather than gas.
Last week, the IEA announced the release of 400 million barrels of oil and refined products from global stockpiles to ease shortages around the world, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said represented only 20% of its reserves.
“We still have 80% in our pocket,” Birol said in a statement, adding that he had held talks with Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Norway and other countries about increasing their oil and gas production.
But, he said, such flows would not solve the loss of Middle Eastern energy.
“The single most important action is the resumption of transits through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
Trump blasts NATO allies as 'COWARDS' for not helping with Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump is again blasting America's NATO allies, calling them "COWARDS" and criticizing them for not helping keep the Strait of Hormuz open amid the war in Iran, in a social media post Friday.
"Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices," Trump said in the post.
The president added that it would be easy for European allies to do and "with so little risk."
"COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!" Trump said.
The post comes after Trump called repeatedly on allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Many European and other allies have rebuffed Trump's call to action. On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's spokesman said that this is "not NATO's war."
While the president publicly requests help, he also repeatedly says that the U.S. doesn't need the help of their allies.
"We're the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don't need them. But it's interesting," Trump said on Monday.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Emily Chang
Head of IEA says Iran crisis greatest threat to global energy 'in history'
The head of the International Energy Agency said the war in Iran is the greatest threat to global energy “in history” and warns people don’t yet understand how bad the situation is.
“People understand that this is a major challenge, but I am not sure that the depth and the consequences of the situation are well understood,” Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Dr. Fatih Birol said in an interview with the Financial Times.
He added that “vital arteries have come to a halt," hitting the world’s supply of fertilizers for crops, petrochemicals for plastics, clothes and manufacturing, as well as sulfur and helium.
“These are vital commodities for the global economy,” he said.
Even if the conflict ended and the strait reopened, Birol said “it will take a long time” to bring oil and gas fields, many of which have been shut down or damaged, back online.
“It will be six months for some [sites] to be operational, others much longer,” he said.
Israel says it's struck over 2,000 'terror targets' in Lebanon so far
The Israeli military said Friday that it has struck more than 2,000 "terror targets" since the start of its ongoing operation in Lebanon, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces
"In addition, over 570 Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated. This includes approximately 220 Radwan Force operatives, around 150 surface-to-surface missile operatives, two commanders with the equivalent rank of Major General, four commanders with the equivalent rank of Brigadier General, eight commanders with the equivalent rank of Colonel, and 22 battalion-level commanders," the IDF said in the statement.
"The IDF will continue to operate with force against Hezbollah after the terrorist organization chose to join the conflict in defense of the Iranian terror regime. The IDF will not allow Israeli civilians to be harmed," the statement continued.
-ABC News' Morgan Winsor