Global energy concerns mount as Iran threats stop cargo through the Strait of Hormuz

The ongoing American-Israeli war on Iran, for all its complexity and global effects, boils down to a single question: Who can take the pain the longest? A surge in oil prices points to what may be Iran’s most effective weapon and the United States’ biggest vulnerability in continuing the campaign: Damaging the world economy.

Wednesday’s major developments include Iranian attacks against commercial ships -- setting a Thai cargo ship ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz -- and drones targeting Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy concerns mount.

The U.S. campaign of airstrikes on Iran is now in its 12th day with no end in sight, while the Israeli military is striking across Iran as well as in Lebanon, where Israel says it’s targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. An Israeli intelligence assessment also indicates that Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was wounded at the start of the war.

The war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, at least 570 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The Pentagon said Tuesday that about 140 U.S. service members have been wounded, eight of them severely, and seven killed.

Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, said that as a result of the U.S. strikes, including one on a “large ballistic missile manufacturing facility,” Iran’s ballistic missile and drone attacks have “dropped drastically.” The targets have included more than 60 ships, he said in a video posted to social media Wednesday.

Cooper also confirmed that the military was using “advanced AI tools” to “sift through vast amounts of data in seconds.” He said these tools are enabling leaders to make smarter decisions faster but stressed that “humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot and when to shoot.”