SINGAPORE: Smaller, cheaper and effectively disposable aircraft are rewriting the rules of modern warfare – and its latest battlefield are the skies over Iran. 

Since Israel and the United States launched their attacks on Iran on Feb 28, both sides have used low-cost kamikaze drones extensively. But how they have used these so far has differed sharply. 

The Ukraine war is widely recognised as the first full-out drone war, due to the immense usage. 

Ukraine has said it deploys about 9,000 different types of drones a day, while one think tank found that Russia launched more than 4,400 one-way drones in January alone. Drones were reportedly responsible for up to 80 per cent of those killed or injured on both sides. In a somewhat ironic turn, the US has asked Ukraine for help to fight Iranian drones. 

Lessons from these early drone wars will be important in developing countries’ own military playbooks.

A GAME OF DRONES

Iran’s drone objective is to deplete the air defence stocks of Israel, the US and the Gulf countries hosting US military facilities that Iran has targeted in its retaliation.

Its drone of choice is the Shahed-136. It is essentially a guided bomb that is flown into a target and detonated. It is slow and simple, and quick and cheap to manufacture.

And that is precisely the point. Iran does not need every drone to get through enemy air defences, just enough to saturate and overwhelm air defences or force the use of expensive, limited interceptor missiles. This was Iran’s play in the 12-day war last June that managed to pierce Israel’s sophisticated air defence system, as well as Russia’s approach to attacking Ukrainian infrastructure.

This time, Iran deployed waves of drones interspaced with missiles and scored some successes. Geolocated videos from social media of the ongoing conflict in Iran has shown that these drones have struck at least two military targets, including the base of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Manama, Bahrain and a US Army facility in Kuwait. 

These massed attacks appear to be having an effect, with the UAE’s defence ministry revealing that it intercepted 26 out of 35 (or 74 per cent) of Iranian drones launched at it on Tuesday (Mar 10). This was a significant drop from previous days of the conflict, having downed about 90 per cent to 95 per cent of larger numbers of drones in earlier waves.

This suggests that the US – the world’s most powerful military – still has gaps in its ability to defend itself against such new tactics. It is something that US defence officials have reportedly acknowledged, with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine admitting that the drones have posed a bigger challenge than expected.

US HAS ITS OWN CHEAP DRONE

It is perhaps a testament to how effective the Shahed has been that the US has reverse engineered and is employing its own version. The Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) made its first combat appearance in Iran.

But where the Shahed is a tool of asymmetric warfare for Iran to bleed a technologically superior adversary, the LUCAS is about cost-effectiveness. From intercepting enemy missiles and drones to striking infrastructure, the US$35,000 drone holds its own against a US$2.4 Tomahawk cruise missile or a US$13 million THAAD interceptor missile.

A key factor in the current conflict is that the US and Israel rapidly established air superiority by degrading Iran’s air defence network that had already been severely weakened last June. 

This has meant that Israeli and American aircraft and drones have managed to operate over Iran with little opposition as they worked through a list of targets which included Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian missile and drone launchers. These strikes are primarily being carried out with manned aircraft but also with larger drones that are built to provide near-constant surveillance and launch munitions, not as kamikaze weapons.

Videos posted on social media purportedly taken from inside Iran show Israeli Hermes 900 and US MQ-9 Reapers in the air. 

These have long endurance – the Reaper can stay in the air for up to 27 hours and the Hermes 900 up to 36 hours. They can maintain constant surveillance over Iran for much longer than manned aircraft, which need to refuel and are limited by the need for their pilots and crews to rest between missions.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ASIA

While the Iran war has not spilled out of the Middle East, defence planners from Asia will have registered the sharp implications of how it is being fought.

First, LUCAS shows that the US is complementing its arsenal of high-end missiles with significantly cheaper and expendable assets. The US is already changing the way it will operate in the event of conflict in the Indo-Pacific, shifting away from operating large force grouping out of fixed bases in favour of smaller, more agile forces fighting from dispersed locations and the LUCAS could fit into this strategy.

One-way attack drones, with a relatively small and flexible deployment footprint, will likely figure prominently in the US force posture in the Indo-Pacific alongside a smaller number of more capable but more expensive weapon systems. This is the kind of asymmetric capability that the US is seeking, while China has been making advances in military capability.

Next, the US is burning through a prodigious amount of ballistic missile defence interceptors against Iranian ballistic missiles.

Even before the Iran war, experts had warned that the US and its Indo-Pacific allies do not have, and is producing nowhere near enough, the number of interceptors it needs should a conflict break out against China. This could call into question a vital aspect of the ability of the US military to conduct operations in the Indo-Pacific. 

It is perhaps a salutary lesson to defence planners about over reliance on smaller numbers of high-tech, expensive weapons, and that it might be worth investing in a large quantity of cheaper, less-sophisticated systems to work alongside them for maximum effect. 

Mike Yeo is the Indo-Pacific Bureau Chief for defence media outlet Breaking Defense. He has more than a decade of experience as a defence journalist, specialising in regional defence and security matters.

LONDON: After the wild swings in oil markets since the start of the Iran war, US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the conflict will end soon has reignited hopes of more normal conditions in the not-too-distant future.

That seems far-fetched. We are in the midst of one of the biggest supply disruptions in the history of the energy market - an event the industry has feared for 40 years. And yet, now that it is here, no one seems prepared.

Even after accounting for diversions by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz has been reduced by at least 10 million barrels a day, according to our estimates. That’s nearly 2.5 times more than the Russian crude exports that were assessed to be at risk during the initial stages of the Ukraine war before Russian supply was directed to China and India instead of Europe. 

The flow of oil products and liquefied petroleum gas through the Strait of Hormuz has also been reduced by 5 million barrels per day and liquefied natural gas stuck at nearly the equivalent of nearly 85 million tonnes per annum, almost 20 per cent of global supply.

RISING VOLATILITY

Oil price volatility has skyrocketed. On Monday (Mar 9), the Brent crude benchmark swung around in a US$35 range, rising to nearly US$120 per barrel on fears the Strait would remain closed for a while and then falling on assumptions that the war would end imminently based on Trump’s comments.

Yet the G7 continues to discuss releases from strategic petroleum reserves and Asian economies are implementing energy conservation policies. If the impact of the war was truly going to be brief, why would such emergency policy actions be needed?

The market is right to fixate on the signals from the US and other governments. 

Ultimately, with every day that the Strait of Hormuz is effectively shut, the volume of energy lost climbs higher and higher. Volatility will remain elevated and we see crude prices continuing to rally until the point demand is curtailed given the volume of rising production cuts, which are north of 7 million barrels per day.

Indeed, even if large releases from emergency oil stockpiles manage to quell price increases in the near term, they would not fully make up for the more than 10 million barrels per day of lost flow, meaning the market will keep testing the resolve of the US administration. Finite stocks can rarely replace lost flows unless it is clear when the supply disruption will end, especially when the losses are of this magnitude. There is also no equivalent strategic gas stockpile to buffer large disruptions. 

The biggest question for us is what the new normal will look like, whenever it comes.

Clearly, it won’t look like the old status quo. Indeed, it may be wrong to assume that now that Iran has carried out its longstanding threat to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, the status quo ante for regional trade will be easy to restore.

Flows may resume fairly if the conflict ends with a ceasefire agreed by all sides but the risk calculations will be different going forward. It is far from clear that if the US achieves its stated objectives of degrading Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programmes and militarily weakening the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Middle East will be more stable than before the war. 

This is particularly the case if the Iranian regime remains in power but feels threatened on all sides, or if a power vacuum emerges in Tehran.

MAJOR REPERCUSSIONS FOR ASIA

This scenario has major repercussions for Asian buyers of Gulf energy. 

The conflict is clearly showing that the region, which is also home to all of oil’s spare capacity, remains vulnerable. The Strait of Hormuz will remain a chokepoint for global trade whatever measures are taken to try and limit the threat Iran can pose to the waterway. China, India, Japan and South Korea together receive almost 70 per cent of Middle Eastern crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz, meeting nearly half their combined crude requirements via this route. The imperative for Asian powers to safeguard their energy lifelines is therefore becoming ever more urgent.

This is especially important for China. Beijing has taken various steps to reduce these risks, including diversifying its imports with a goal to import no more than 20 per cent of total oil imports from any one source, as well as building up substantial domestic oil stockpiles.

But the limits of this strategy are tested when almost 50 per cent of Chinese crude imports originate from the Middle East. In the meantime, China’s leadership has urged local refineries to halt exports of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. We understand the Indian government is also asking state-owned refiners to prioritise domestic product supplies, similar to the approach taken by Thailand.

Security of supply will be forced back to the top of the agenda for governments in the new world order, much as it was after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. That will continue to reshape oil markets for a long time to come.
 

"PROXY ACTORS"

BATTERED HOUSEHOLDS

TEHRAN: Iran warned it could wage a prolonged war with the United States and Israel that would "destroy" the world economy, even as US President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday (Mar 12) to "finish the job", saying there was little left for American forces to strike.

The statement from Tehran came as fighting around the strategic Strait of Hormuz - the waterway carrying a fifth of the world's oil - sent shockwaves through energy markets, prompting emergency releases from global reserves and a limited draw on US stockpiles.

Oil prices have surged since Feb 28, when the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader and plunged the Middle East into conflict.

Iranian missile strikes and drone attacks have brought shipping through the strait almost to a halt, forcing governments to scramble to contain the fallout, but Trump said on Wednesday the United States must "finish the job".

"We don't want to leave early, do we?" Trump said while talking about the US-Israeli operation during a speech in Hebron, Kentucky.

Trump said Washington would also tap US strategic reserves "a little" to help stabilise markets, while the International Energy Agency agreed to release a record 400 million barrels.

The president had earlier suggested the war itself might soon wind down. US forces have struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels, he said, adding that there was "practically nothing left to target".

"Any time I want it to end, it will end," he said in an interview with Axios.

Israel's military, however, signalled the campaign was far from finished, and that it still had "a broad bank of targets".

ECONOMIC SHOCK

With the conflict in its 12th day, Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned they would strike "economic centres and banks" linked to US and Israeli interests, prompting more international firms to evacuate staff from Dubai.

The US and Israel "must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy", Ali Fadavi, an adviser to the Guards' commander-in-chief, told state television.

Iran said it targeted two commercial vessels in the Gulf after they entered the Strait of Hormuz "after ignoring the warnings" of its navy.

The IRGC also insisted Tehran retained full control over the strategic waterway, adding that "armed forces are not neglecting their duties for even a moment".

Analysts warn that a prolonged disruption to shipping through the strait - which also carries roughly a third of the fertiliser used in global food production - would deliver a severe economic shock, particularly in Asia and Europe.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding Iran halt attacks on Gulf states, prompting the Islamic Republic's ambassador to the United Nations to accuse it of a "blatant misuse" of its mandate.

The conflict has already disrupted two pillars of the Gulf economy - energy production and commercial aviation.

On Wednesday, drones fell near Dubai airport, injuring four people, authorities said. Others struck fuel tanks at Oman's Salalah port, according to the Oman News Agency.

LEBANON DRAWN IN DEEPER

In an apparent first since the war began, Israeli drones also struck targets in Tehran on Wednesday evening, killing members of the security forces, Iran's Fars news agency reported.

The IRGC said just after midnight on Thursday they had carried out a joint missile operation with Hezbollah against targets in Israel.

Pentagon officials have meanwhile briefed US lawmakers that the cost of the war exceeded US$11.3 billion in its first six days, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the classified briefing.

Lebanon said the death toll from ten days of fighting between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah had reached more than 630, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced.

The conflict has continued to spill across the region.

Lebanon was pulled into the war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israeli strikes on Wednesday hit an apartment building in central Beirut. AFPTV footage captured the sound of an incoming strike followed by a fireball erupting from the building.

"I ran from room to room, pulled my wife and daughter out of the rooms and hid them behind a wall, then the second strike hit," said Fawzi Asmar, a bakery owner on the same street.

Israel later launched what it described as a "large-scale wave of strikes" in response to Hezbollah rocket fire. Lebanon's health ministry said eight people were killed in an Israeli strike in the country's east.

"SATAN HIMSELF"

The US-Israeli assault began only weeks after Iranian authorities crushed mass protests, though the allies insist regime change is not necessarily their goal.

Iranian officials warned dissent would be treated as treason.

Police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said protesters would be viewed and dealt with as "enemies".

Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to appear in public, and officials said Wednesday he had been wounded but was "safe".

Iran's health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people had been killed in US and Israeli strikes. AFP could not independently verify the figure.

Thousands of mourners gathered in Tehran to commemorate commanders killed in the attacks, the largest public gathering since the war began, held under a heavy security presence.

Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior adviser to the new supreme leader, also struck a defiant tone, calling Trump the "most corrupt and stupid American president" and "Satan himself".

PARIS: The International Energy Agency on Wednesday (Mar 11) agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil, the largest such move in its history, to try to rein in crude prices which have soared due to supply shocks from the US-Israeli war with Iran.

The IEA said the release had been backed unanimously by 32 member countries, the sixth such move it has made since its creation in the 1970s. It is aimed at preventing a further rise in oil prices on fears that Iranian attacks will continue to block Middle East oil exports from reaching markets.

"The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in scale, therefore I am very glad that IEA member countries have responded with an emergency collective action of unprecedented size," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

The Paris-based IEA made its comments as French President Emmanuel Macron chaired a meeting of G7 leaders to discuss the issue.

The emergency stocks will be made available to the market over a timeframe that is appropriate to the national circumstances of each member country," the IEA said, adding this would be "supplemented by additional emergency measures by some countries".

US President Donald Trump, who launched attacks on Iran alongside Israel on Feb 28, was shown at the end of a video of the G7 meeting chaired by Macron saying: "I think we are having a tremendous impact on the world."

Yet oil prices rebounded on Wednesday as markets doubted whether the IEA's plan could offset the volumes of oil blocked by the conflict.

Analysts have said the pace of daily IEA stock releases would matter as much as if not more than the overall size.

If 100 million barrels were released over the next month, the daily pace will amount to around 3.3 million barrels per day - a fraction of the current disruption of around 20 million barrels per day, with the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman effectively blocked.

DOUBLE SCALE OF UKRAINE CRISIS RELEASE

In 2022, IEA member countries released 182.7 million barrels of oil and oil products in two stages, which was then the largest in IEA history, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"Pressure came mainly from the US government which wants this release," an EU diplomat had said, speaking before the IEA statement.

In the G7 video, Trump said he agreed with the IEA decision.

US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had welcomed initial reports of the planned release of oil reserves, while saying in an interview with Fox News that he did not believe the world was facing an energy shortage.

"We've got a transit problem, which is temporary," he said. "You have a temporary transit problem that we're resolving militarily and diplomatically, which we can resolve and will resolve."

JAPAN TO MOVE SWIFTLY

G7 member Japan said it planned to release around 80 million barrels from its private and national oil reserves as its contribution.

"Rather than wait for formal IEA approval of a coordinated international reserve release, Japan will act first to ease global energy market supply and demand, releasing reserves as early as the 16th of this month," Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a broadcast statement.

Western economies coordinate their strategic oil stockpiles through the IEA, which was formed in 1974 after the oil crisis.

IEA members hold emergency stockpiles of more than 1.2 billion barrels, with another 600 million in industry stocks held under government obligation.

Iran cannot participate in the 2026 World Cup after co-host the United States launched airstrikes against the country alongside Israel, killing its leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said on Wednesday (Mar 11).

The United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran nearly two weeks ago, killing the Islamic Republic's supreme leader, leading to a region-wide conflict in the Gulf.

"Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup," the minister told state television.

The 48-team World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada from Jun 11 to Jul 19.

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"Our children are not safe and, fundamentally, such conditions for participation do not exist," Donyamali said.

"Given the malicious actions they have carried out against Iran, they have forced two wars on us over eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people. Therefore, we certainly cannot have such a presence."

More than 1,300 Iranian civilians have been killed since the US and Israeli airstrikes began on Feb 28, according to Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani.

IRAN DRAWN TO PLAY IN LA AND SEATTLE

In the draw last December, the Iranians were grouped with Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. All three of their Group G matches were scheduled to take place in the US, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.

Iran, which dominated the Asian qualifying rounds to qualify for the tournament in March last year, was the only nation missing from a FIFA planning summit for World Cup participants held last week in Atlanta.

Reuters has contacted the Iranian Football Federation for comment, while there was no immediate comment from FIFA on a replacement if Iran followed through with a boycott.

FIFA regulations for the World Cup state that any team that withdraws from the tournament "no later than 30 days before the first match" will be fined at least 250,000 Swiss francs (US$320,800) by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

"Disciplinary sanctions may include the expulsion of the participating member association concerned from subsequent FIFA competitions and/or the replacement of the participating member association with another member association," FIFA's regulations say.

INFANTINO SAYS PRESIDENT TRUMP WELCOMES IRAN TEAM

Earlier, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he had met US President Donald Trump, who told him he welcomed Iran's participation in the 2026 Football World Cup.

Trump had previously said "I really don't care" if Iran participated at the World Cup or not, but Infantino said he had a productive discussion with the president.

"During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States," Infantino said.

A source in Tehran familiar with the matter said the decision was not to attend the World Cup, while warm-up games were also not possible because of the war.

A surge in jet fuel prices, driven by the ongoing United States-Israeli war on Iran, has upended the global aviation industry, prompting airlines to raise fares and revise financial outlooks. 

Jet fuel prices have soared from US$85 to US$90 per barrel to US$150 to US$200 per barrel in recent days for an industry where fuel accounts for up to a quarter of operating expenses. 

Below is a list of how airlines are responding, in alphabetical order:

AIR NEW ZEALAND 

The airline was on Tuesday one of the first to announce broad increases to ticket prices and also suspended its fiscal 2026 earnings forecast due to unprecedented volatility in global jet fuel markets. 

The price hikes for one-way economy fares are set at NZ$10 (US$6) on domestic routes, NZ$20 on short-haul international services and NZ$90 on long-haul flights, with further price, network and schedule changes possible if jet fuel costs remain elevated. 

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS 

The Hong Kong airline said on Tuesday it had implemented additional flights to London and Zurich in March to address disrupted travel routes. The airline said it reviews its fuel surcharges monthly and held them steady last month at US$72.90 on flights between Hong Kong and Europe or North America.

HONG KONG AIRLINES 

The local carrier said it would raise fuel surcharges by up to 35.2 per cent from Thursday, with the sharpest increase on flights between Hong Kong and the Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal, where charges will rise to HK$384 (US$49) from HK$284.

IAG

British Airways' owner IAG said on Tuesday that it was not planning to hike ticket prices immediately, as it had hedged much of its fuel for the short to mid-term.

QANTAS AIRWAYS 

The Australian airline said on Tuesday it would hike fares on its international routes for the week of Mar 9 and that it was considering adding capacity on its existing Europe routes in the coming months.

SAS (SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES)

The dominant airline in the Nordic countries said on Tuesday that it had implemented a temporary price adjustment due to rising jet fuel prices.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AND SCOOT

In response to queries from CNA, a Singapore Airlines (SIA) spokesperson said on Wednesday that SIA and budget airline Scoot's airfares "are determined by supply and demand, and therefore dynamic and subject to change".

The spokesperson added that neither airline imposes fuel surcharges on their flights.

THAI AIRWAYS

The Thailand-based carrier said on Wednesday that it would raise fares by 10 per cent to 15 per cent to address rising fuel costs.

UNITED AIRLINES

The airline's CEO Scott Kirby said on Mar 6 that he expects a "meaningful" hit to the carrier's first-quarter results from the surging fuel prices.

VIETNAM AIRLINES 

The Vietnam-based airline said it had requested government assistance to remove an environmental tax on jet fuel, as operating costs for Vietnamese airlines have surged by around 70 per cent due to the jet fuel price rise, according to local officials.

FRIBOURG, Switzerland: A blaze on a Swiss bus that killed six people may have been started by a "disturbed" man who set himself alight, a public prosecutor said on Wednesday (Mar 11).

"A witness statement indicated that a man ... of Swiss origin boarded the bus carrying bags. At some point, he doused himself with a flammable substance and set himself alight," prosecutor Raphael Bourquin told a press conference.

"There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this could be a terrorist act," he said, adding that "it appears that this person is among the deceased".

The fire broke out on the bus in the main street of the small town of Kerzers, around 20km west of the Alpine nation's capital Bern, at about 6.25pm (5.25pm GMT) on Tuesday.

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Videos shared on social media showed flames several metres high bursting out from the windows, and black smoke rising into the sky.

The family of the man suspected of setting himself on fire, who was in his sixties and lived in Bern, had "reported his disappearance", and "current evidence describes him as a marginalised and disturbed individual", added Bourquin.

Besides those killed, the fire injured five people, two of them seriously, according to the police. One of three people taken to hospital has since returned home and the other two were treated at the scene.

The police were unable to confirm how many passengers were aboard at the time of the blaze.

MELTED TAR

Several ambulances and a helicopter were sent to the scene, with investigators working late into the night.

By early Wednesday, the charred husk of the bus was removed from the roadway, leaving a few traces of melted tar on the ground and a faint smell of burning.

"TERRIBLE TRAGEDY"

It is the second major multiple-casualty fire in Switzerland in less than three months.

In the early hours of Jan 1, a bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana caught fire as people celebrated the New Year. A total of 41 people died, with another 115 injured.

"I am shocked and saddened that people in Switzerland have once again lost their lives in a serious fire," Swiss President Guy Parmelin said on X.

"The circumstances are being investigated. I would like to express my condolences to the families of those who died in Kerzers. My thoughts are also with the injured and the emergency services."

The bus involved was a PostBus, a feature of Swiss rural life.

The distinctive yellow buses serve more remote areas, connecting them with towns, while carrying letters and parcels.

They are used by around half a million people every day, notably schoolchildren.

"It is a terrible tragedy that occurred yesterday in Chietres. Like me, all the employees of PostBus and Swiss Post are shocked," Stefan Regli, the CEO of PostBus, said in a statement.

DUBAI: Drones fell near Dubai airport, injuring four people, while attacks hit three ships in or near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday (Mar 11) as Iran kept up its campaign disrupting oil markets and air and maritime traffic.

The oil-rich Gulf has borne the brunt of Iran's attacks in response to US-Israeli strikes that sparked the Middle East war, with Tehran targeting US assets but also civilian infrastructure.

Iran has also targeted Gulf energy infrastructure and choked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries nearly 20 per cent of global oil production, prompting wild swings in prices.

"Two drones fell in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport a short while ago, resulting in minor injuries to two Ghanaian nationals and one Bangladeshi national, and moderate injuries to one Indian national," the Dubai Media Office said.

"Air traffic is operating as normal," it added.

UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash said Iran "is lying when they claim to be targeting US bases in the Gulf", slamming in a post on X the attacks on "civilian infrastructure... with no regard for civilians and innocent people".

An Indian worker at a cargo terminal opposite Terminal 2 of Dubai airport said he saw a drone flying at low altitude, slowly gliding down before crashing into a building at the airport terminal.

"It was flying so low and I saw it clearly. But there was no loud blast when it hit," he said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

"About 10 minutes later, I saw another drone gliding past in a similar manner ... When it crashed, the explosion was loud. Particularly loud," he added.

SHIPS HIT IN HORMUZ

A container ship and a bulk carrier were hit off the coast of the UAE, one off Dubai and the other off the northern Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah by unknown projectiles, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

A third ship was also hit by a projectile off Oman, in the Strait of Hormuz, which caused a fire that was later extinguished, according to the UKMTO.

Saudi Arabia intercepted drones targeting the Shaybah field, crucial to its production, while explosions rang out over Qatar and the UAE reported fresh attacks.

Saudi Arabia also said it intercepted seven ballistic missiles targeting its eastern region and the Prince Sultan Air Base, where an American service member was fatally wounded on Mar 1.

Iran appears to be attempting to knock major Gulf refineries offline while also tightening its chokehold on the strait in a quest to inflict maximum pain on the global economy.

In the past few days, Saudi Aramco's sprawling Ras Tanura facility, home to one of the Middle East's largest refineries, was targeted, as was the UAE's Ruwais refinery - one of the largest in the world.

Iranian attacks have already forced state-owned QatarEnergy, one of the world's largest producers of liquefied natural gas, to halt production last week and declare force majeure.

Energy producers in Kuwait made similar declarations, which are a warning that events beyond their control may lead them to miss export targets.

PARIS: Energy ministers of the G7 said on Wednesday (Mar 11) they "stand ready" to take "all necessary measures" in coordination with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to tackle the rise in crude oil prices due to the Middle East war.

The statement was released as President Emmanuel Macron, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven advanced economies, was set to chair a video conference of G7 leaders to discuss the economic consequences of the war in the Middle East, the French presidency said.

On Tuesday, member states of the Paris-based International Energy Agency met for crisis talks to assess security of supply and the potential release of emergency stocks as the Middle East war rocked the markets.

"In principle, we support the implementation of proactive measures to address the situation, including the use of strategic reserves," energy ministers of the G7 said in a statement on Wednesday.

They said they were coordinating within the G7, with IEA member countries and beyond.

"We agreed to stand ready to take all necessary measures in coordination with IEA Members," the statement said. "G7 members will carefully consider the recommendations issued during these discussions."

Separately, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said that no decision had been taken "at this stage".

"We need to send a very clear message, which is that if we cannot reopen the Strait of Hormuz, we will replace it with other oil that will come from elsewhere and circulate around the world," he said in a broadcast on BFMTV/RMC on Wednesday.

OIL RESERVES REPORT

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing officials familiar with the matter, that the IEA had proposed its largest-ever release of oil reserves to counter soaring crude prices driven by the war.

The release would exceed the 182 million barrels of oil that IEA member countries released in 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, the newspaper said.

The IEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.

The crude market has been hit by wild volatility since the United States and Israel began striking Iran at the end of last month, with Tehran retaliating by attacking targets across the oil-rich Gulf and effectively shutting down the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Macron earlier this week spoke about the possibility of G7 countries using their emergency oil reserves to counter any extreme rise in oil prices caused by the war.

G7 finance ministers met on Monday and G7 energy ministers on Tuesday to hold talks.

Asian equities extended gains on Wednesday while oil stabilised after the WSJ report.

"We want to be ready to react at any moment," French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven advanced economies, said on Tuesday.

The group also includes Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

IEA member countries currently hold over 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government mandates.

The Paris-based IEA was created to coordinate responses to major supply disruptions after the 1973 oil crisis.

In order to ensure energy security, the IEA imposes on its members an obligation to hold emergency oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net oil imports.