00:00Iranian attacks on oil tankers and commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz continued on Thursday as oil prices soared
00:07back above $100 a barrel.
00:11Israel launched a wave of strikes across Lebanon while the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group launched more missiles at Israel.
00:22Iranian attacks on oil tankers and commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz continued on Thursday as oil prices soared
00:29back above $100 a barrel, despite a record release of strategic crude by the International Energy Agency.
00:37A projectile struck a container ship near the United Arab Emirates, and two tankers in Iraqi waters were also reported
00:45struck, as well as a fuel tank in Bahrain.
00:48While Iran said it was ready for a long war of attrition that would destroy the world economy, Trump continued
00:55to claim the U.S. has won the war.
00:58We don't want to leave early, do we? We've got to finish the job, right?
01:06Over the past 11 days, our military has virtually destroyed Iran. Tough country.
01:18Their air force is gone. Totally gone. That took the better part of about three hours.
01:28Meanwhile, Israel's military said multiple waves of Iranian missiles were fired at Israel early on Thursday and that air defenses
01:35were deployed to intercept them.
01:37Israel said that it was in turn carrying out wide-scale strikes on Tehran and a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon's
01:44capital.
01:45Lebanon said an Israeli strike on central Beirut's seafront early on Thursday killed at least seven people.
01:56Israel launched a wave of strikes across Lebanon overnight while the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group launched more missiles at
02:04Israel.
02:04Seven people were killed and 21 more were wounded in an Israeli strike on central Beirut's seafront, according to Lebanon's
02:12health ministry.
02:13It was the third attack in the heart of Lebanon's capital since the war with Iran began,
02:18and came as Israel continued its repeated strikes on the city's southern suburbs, as well as the country's southern and
02:25eastern regions.
02:26Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced it had fired rockets, missiles and drones at towns and military bases in Tel Aviv and other
02:33locations, mainly in Israel's north.
02:37Late Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for Israel to halt its ground offensive in Lebanon
02:43and on Hezbollah to stop its attacks, after speaking with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
02:49Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme
02:55leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes.
03:00Israel, which kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire,
03:06has since launched air raids across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.
03:11Its offensive has killed more than 630 people, according to Lebanese authorities,
03:17while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced.
03:26In an interview with Your News, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations insisted that Tehran does not want to blockade
03:33the Strait of Ormuz,
03:35contradicting a statement by the newly chosen Ayatollah, who threatened the opposite.
03:41Iran has not had any intention to block the Strait of Ormuz.
03:50What ever situation the Strait of Ormuz is suffering from is because of the war which has been imposed on
03:59the region.
04:00Iran, of course, is protecting the Strait of Ormuz.
04:05Iran keeps believing that the Strait of Ormuz is the Strait of Peace.
04:13It should be and it can be used by everybody as far as there is no any threat,
04:19as far as there is no any war on that region.
04:22The only limitation or restraint that we will impose is on the ships belonging to those countries
04:34who have any kind of involvement in the war against Iran.
04:39Of course, the situation in Ormuz affects the global economy.
04:44We are not happy with that.
04:46It will affect the economy of Iran, too.
04:49We do not reject it.
04:51But for how long Iran can stand it now?
04:54Iran is ready to defend itself as far as it is needed.
05:00As I told you, we have been prepared for this situation.
05:05Iran, while we were negotiating, our military forces' assessment was that the threat is imminent.
05:16The United States was suffering from a big miscalculation.
05:21What they had the intention to do, all of that was failed because they believed that they are able to
05:30defeat Iran in a few days.
05:33But the response they received was very strong and it gave them a signal that Iran is able to defend
05:40itself.
05:41Is there a contact now between Iran and the U.S. now, two weeks into the war?
05:45The basic or the necessary prerequisite for any diplomatic movement is that the United States should come to the conclusion
05:58that war is not a choice.
06:01Who is in charge at the moment in Iran?
06:04In Iran, the political system is working very efficiently.
06:10Firstly, although we have lost our supreme leader, but a new leader has been elected by the Council of Experts.
06:21The election of the new leader shows that there would be a continuity in Iran and there is no vacuum
06:33in our country now.
06:38A further escalation in the Middle East could lead to a stagflation shock for the European economy, EU Commissioner Valdis
06:46Dombrowski told Euronews.
06:48Iranian strikes on Gulf countries coupled with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have rattled global energy markets, sending
06:55oil prices soaring above $100 a barrel.
06:59The economic impact of current crisis in the Middle East will, to a large extent, depend on how long the
07:07conflict will continue, how wide it will spread.
07:11So, in a sense, if we manage to achieve a quick escalation, the impact may be limited.
07:16If it gets protracted and correspondingly bores with disruptions for oil shipping and oil and gas production, that indeed, as
07:28you mentioned, can create a stagflationary shock for the European economy.
07:32On Wednesday, a group of 32 countries, including the United States, Germany and France, agreed an emergency release of strategic
07:39oil reserves to the tune of 400 million barrels.
07:42Tomrovskis welcomed the move, which aims to stabilise what the International Energy Agency described as challenges of unprecedented scale for
07:50the global oil market.
07:55The European Commission has asked Ukraine to allow inspectors to oversee the damage to the Druzhba pipeline.
08:02The move is in line with the key demand from Hungary, as it maintains a veto on a critical 90
08:08billion euros loan for Ukraine until the pipeline resumes operations.
08:14We are in intense discussions and contact with Ukraine on this issue, as has been the case for a couple
08:21of weeks already, as well as with the member states that are most concerned.
08:26And I can update you that we have proposed a mission to inspect the pipeline to Ukraine.
08:35Kiev has not yet answered to the Commission's formal request issued Thursday.
08:40Hungary and Slovakia have lobbied for what they described as a fact-finding mission to explore the pipeline, which transits
08:48through Ukraine, carrying cheap Russian crude.
08:51Both countries insist they have intelligence to prove the Soviet-area pipeline is operational and transit is being blocked for
08:59political reasons.
09:00Instead, Kiev says it was severely damaged during a Russian drone attack late January and needs to be fixed, but
09:08the complexities of the war are delaying repairs.
09:13With the war in Iran on Azerbaijan's doorstep, this global Baku Forum this year has taken on increasing significance.
09:22Bridging the divide is the theme this year, and there are a lot of divides to talk about, especially with
09:28the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continuing into its second week
09:33and spreading to the Gulf oil-rich Gulf states, as well as Lebanon.
09:38In fact, four Iranian drones crashed into Nakhichevan, that's the Azerbaijani exclave, injuring several people.
09:48It took a phone call between the Azerbaijani and Iranian president to calm things down.
09:55It's all about diplomacy, and that's what the president of Azerbaijan's chief foreign policy advisor has to say about this
10:03forum as being very important for diplomacy.
10:06We are also supporting international communities' efforts to resolve outstanding issues through the dialogue and diplomacy.
10:13We are ready to contribute to these negotiations.
10:16But in the meantime, we are also concerned and doing all of what is necessary to avoid further expansion of
10:24the geographies of the conflicts.
10:26Charles Michel, who used to be the president of the European Council, said that Europe needs to talk with one
10:33voice.
10:34What is going on today, there's a gift for Russia, because prices are going up on the one hand,
10:41because the attention is more focused on the Middle East today, and it allows Russia to continue its war of
10:48aggression.
10:48And we have, in Europe, to develop our own capabilities.
10:52And how is this conflict in Iran affecting the drive by Ukraine to join the European Union?
10:59Well, the former defense minister of Latvia told us this steps up the importance of Ukraine joining the EU.
11:09I think that in our strategic interest is as fast as possible, integrate Ukraine,
11:15because Ukraine has the strongest military force, which Europe is missing.
11:20Ukraine has this experience.
11:22And this is the way how we can also show the strength, because this is the only way how we
11:28can deal with Russia.
11:29The Global Baku Forum wraps up on Saturday.
11:32Anyone's guess where this war will be by then?
11:35Chris Burns, Euronews, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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