The United Nations’ refugee agency has said that up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced since the war began almost a fortnight ago.
“This figure is likely to continue rising as hostilities persist, marking a worrying escalation in humanitarian needs,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement, citing preliminary assessments based on the number of uprooted households.
Meanwhile, two tankers are ablaze in Iraqi waters, an apparent escalation in Iranian attacks that have cut off Middle East energy supplies, defying US President Donald Trump’s claim to have already won the war.
Images, verified by Reuters as having been filmed from the shore of the port of Basra, showed the ships engulfed in orange fireballs.
Iraqi authorities said the vessels had been attacked overnight by Iranian boats laden with explosives. At least one crew member was killed.
Hours earlier, three other ships had been struck in the Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for at least one of those attacks, on a Thai bulk carrier that was set ablaze, which the guards said had disobeyed their orders.
Another container vessel reported being struck by an unknown projectile near the United Arab Emirates, a maritime security authority said.
Damage to a building in Dubai
The war, launched by the US and Israel almost a fortnight ago, has killed around 2,000 people and caused the biggest disruption to global energy supplies since the 1970s.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that more than 1,100 children had died or been injured.
The Israeli military has been instructed to expand its operations in Lebanon, defence minister Israel Katz said, after Hezbollah fired a heavy barrage of rockets at Israel overnight.
Mr Katz warned Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that if his government could not stop Hezbollah attacks, Israel “would do it ourselves”, according to a statement released by his office.
Global energy supplies disrupted
Undermining US and Israeli claims to have knocked out much of Iran’s stock of long-range weapons, more drones were reported over Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.
Oil prices had decreased earlier in the week after President Trump said the war would soon be over. They are now back above $100 a barrel.
Iran said that it would not allow tankers through the world’s most important energy trade route – the Strait of Hormuz that runs along its coast – until the US-Israeli attacks ceased and it would not conduct any negotiations with Washington.
Citibank announced that it would temporarily shut its branches in the UAE, a day after Iran said that it considered banks to be legitimate targets and warned Middle East residents to stay 1,000m from them. HSBC has shut branches in Qatar.
The surge in oil prices came despite the announcement yesterday that member nations of the International Energy Agency would release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves, nearly half from the United States.
However, the biggest coordinated intervention in the market would take months to carry out and account for just three weeks of supply from the blockaded strait.
Watch: Trump says US looking ‘strongly at the straits’
President Trump has repeatedly tried to calm energy markets by saying the war will soon be over and the surge in oil prices will be short-lived.
However, he has not fully explained how the attacks will end, or presented a plan to reopen the strait.
US and Israeli officials say the aim is to destroy Iran’s missile and nuclear programmes, but Mr Trump has also demanded the country’s “unconditional surrender” and the power to determine its leaders.
“You never like to say too early you won. We won,” the president told a campaign-style rally in Kentucky.
“In the first hour it was over.”
The US had “virtually destroyed Iran”, he said, but: “We don’t want to leave early do we? We got to finish the job”.
Sources said that US intelligence indicated Iran’s leadership was still largely intact and not at risk of collapse any time soon.
Iran seeks prolonged economic shock
Iran has made clear in recent days that its strategy is to impose a prolonged economic shock on the world to force Mr Trump to back off.
Iran’s military command spokesperson said on Wednesday that nations should prepare for oil prices of $200 a barrel because of instability caused by the US.
President Trump said the announcement of the release of reserves would “substantially reduce oil prices as we end this threat to America and the world”.
Iran also hit fuel tanks in Bahrain, and drones struck oil storage facilities at Oman’s Salalah port on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia said that it had intercepted several drones heading towards its Shaybah oilfield yesterday.
Read more:
Follow live updates on the Iran war
Latest Middle East stories