President Donald Trump’s declaration that the US campaign against Iran would last “as long as it’s necessary” continued to alarm global financial markets on Saturday as the conflict entered its third week with no diplomatic resolution in sight. Oil prices were approaching $120 per barrel, energy companies were reassessing operations in the Gulf, and governments worldwide were bracing for the economic consequences of a prolonged war with no defined end date. Trump’s refusal to negotiate or define victory left markets struggling to price in the risk.
US warplanes struck Kharg Island on Saturday for the second consecutive day, following a massive assault on Friday that Trump claimed had effectively demolished the facility. The island is Iran’s primary crude export hub and its continued bombing threatened to remove significant volumes of oil from an already disrupted global market. Trump also called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed since hostilities began on February 28. The appeal was seen as the first public acknowledgment that the US might need international support to reopen the critical waterway.
Iran’s actions on Saturday showed no sign of moderation. Ballistic missiles struck the UAE’s Fujairah emirate, forcing suspension of oil-loading at a globally important ship-refuelling hub. Iranian military officials warned civilians near UAE ports and US installations to evacuate. Commanders threatened to attack any Gulf energy facility with American ties. The foreign minister called on Arab states to remove US forces, framing the conflict as one of American aggression. Analysts said Iran’s strategy was to survive, keep fighting, and hold out for better terms.
Israel was also active on multiple fronts, conducting dozens of airstrikes inside Iran and killing at least 15 people in an Isfahan factory strike. Iran fired rockets at Israel in return. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described Iran’s leadership as “desperate and hiding” and claimed the new supreme leader had been wounded. Iranian officials confirmed Khamenei’s injury but called it minor. The International Crisis Group cautioned that the regime remained structurally intact and capable of a long fight.
The conflict’s toll was vast and growing. More than 1,400 Iranians had been killed in sustained bombing. Thirteen Israelis and roughly 20 Gulf residents had also died. Lebanon’s crisis deepened, with 800 killed and 850,000 displaced from Israeli strikes on Hezbollah. Six US troops died in a military aircraft crash in Iraq. The US embassy in Baghdad was struck overnight, and Americans in Iraq were ordered to leave. As oil prices continued to rise and the war showed no sign of ending, analysts warned that a global economic shock was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.