Middle East crisis: three ships hit in strait of Hormuz as ‘largest ever’ oil reserve release agreed by 32 countries

Middle East crisis: three ships hit in strait of Hormuz as ‘largest ever’ oil reserve release agreed by 32 countries

A Thai bulk carrier on fire after being hit near the strait of Hormuz Photograph: ROYAL THAI NAVY/AFP/Getty Images

Lucy Campbell (now); Tom Ambrose, Vivian Ho and Eva Corlett (earlier)Thu 12 Mar 2026 05.13 AEDT

From 2h ago
03.32 AEDT

Summary of today so far

Three ships were hit by unknown projectiles in the strategic strait of Hormuz abutting Iran. Two of the ships sustained damage, while another, which the Thai navy identified as a Thai bulk carrier, caught fire, forcing the crew to evacuate.


International Energy Agency has ordered the largest release of government oil reserves in its history in an effort to calm the oil price shock triggered by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. All 32 members of the world’s energy watchdog agreed unanimously to release about 400m barrels of emergency crude, a third of the group’s total government stockpiles and more than double the IEA’s previous biggest release, the IEA said.


Iran’s military on Wednesday said any ships belonging to the United States, Israel or their allies passing through the strategic strait of Hormuz could be targeted. “Any vessel whose oil cargo or the vessel itself belongs to the United States, the Zionist regime or their hostile allies will be considered legitimate targets,” said the military’s central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, in a statement carried by state TV.


Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was injured in the 28 February attack that killed six of his family members, including his father, Tehran’s ambassador to Cyprus has confirmed. In an interview conducted at his embassy compound in Nicosia, Alireza Salarian elaborated on the circumstances in which Khamenei, 56, was injured, saying he was lucky to survive the strike, which levelled the late ayatollah’s residence.


The deadly strike on a primary school in Minab, Iran, that left at least 175 people, mostly children, dead was the result of an American missile attack, the New York Times reports. Outdated targeting data was the cause of the tragedy, with US bombs hitting the school complex which was previously part of a nearby Iranian military base, sources told the New York Times.


Iran has deployed about a dozen mines in the strait of Hormuz, two sources familiar with the matter said, in a move likely to complicate the reopening of the narrow waterway, an important route for shipping oil and liquefied natural gas. One source told Reuters that the locations of most of the mines are known but declined to say how the US planned to deal with them.


Israel pounded Lebanon with a new wave of attacks, setting an apartment block in central Beirut alight. Earlier strikes in southern Lebanon killed five people in the Nabatieh district and two in the Tyre district.


US forces have conducted airstrikes on more than 5,500 targets inside Iran, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said in a post on X. Cooper provided an update on Wednesday on US operations in the Middle East, in which he said US forces “continue delivering devastating combat power against the Iranian regime”.


Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the joint bombing campaign with the US against Iran would go on “as long as necessary”, insisting the strikes had inflicted heavy casualties on Tehran’s forces. “This operation will continue without any time limit, as long as necessary, until we achieve all the objectives and decide the outcome of the campaign,” he said, adding that the Iranian leadership was fleeing “like mice into tunnels”.