Tehran fired on targets across the Middle East while American and Israeli air strikes hit Iran early on Friday as the war neared the end of its fifth week unabated and the UN Security Council prepared to meet over Tehran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite claims from the US and Israel that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed, Tehran has continued to keep the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours.

Bahrain and Kuwait both reported early morning barrages from Iran, while Israel warned of incoming missiles.

Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it wasn’t immediately clear what was hit.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and is impacting global economies.

Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, were around $109 early on Friday, up more than 50 percent from February 28, when Israel and the US started the war with their attacks on Iran.

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UNSC to take up Hormuz security question

Shipping had flowed freely through the strait before the war, but US President Donald Trump has said it’s not now Washington’s responsibility to get the waterway reopened, instead putting the onus on others, saying this week that the countries that depend more on fuel shipped through Hormuz should “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”

The UN Security Council was expected to vote on Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would authorise defensive action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait.

Bahrain’s initial draft would have allowed countries to “use all necessary means” to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France — who have veto power on the Council — expressed opposition to approving the use of force.

Speaking on Thursday in South Korea, French President Emmanuel Macron said the American expectation that the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened by force was unrealistic.