In the morning, strikes heavily damaged the Pasteur Institute in Iran, a key century-old healthcare facility in Tehran. The country’s two main steel mills announced the suspension of their activities due to attacks.
“Deliberate attacks on essential services and civilian infrastructure can constitute war crimes,” emphasized Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, recently.
After over a month of conflict and thousands of deaths in the Middle East, “we are on the brink of a broader war (…) with dramatic impacts across the planet,” warned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Pro-Iranian Houthi rebels from Yemen have recently joined the conflict by firing towards Israel.
The confrontation is also unfolding in Lebanon, where the Hezbollah group, a longtime ally of Tehran, is operating.
According to Lebanese authorities, the hostilities have resulted in over 1,300 deaths and more than a million displaced individuals.
Despite the bombings, Tehran residents enjoyed the final day of the Norouz festivities, the Persian New Year, gathering in the park for barbecues or to smoke hookahs.
The war’s destabilization has also affected the global economy due to Iran’s de facto blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic maritime passage for Gulf oil, fertilizers, and aluminum.
Oil prices surged on Thursday, with no resolution to the conflict in sight.
If rare ships still navigate the strait with Iran’s approval, traffic has dropped by 93% compared to peacetime, according to maritime analysis company Kpler.
An inflationary spiral has been triggered.
Even in Bhutan, despite subsidies, fuel prices have risen by over 60% in a month in the small Himalayan kingdom. “We are helpless,” said 40-year-old Karma Kalden to AFP.
On the diplomatic front, about forty countries have advocated for the “immediate and unconditional reopening” of the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Iran of attempting to “hold the global economy hostage.”
In New York at the United Nations, Bahrain has been leading a resolution project for about ten days to authorize the use of force to free the Strait of Hormuz. A vote is scheduled for Friday.
Beijing, with a veto power, has described the American-Israeli attacks as the “root cause” of the blockade and called for talks to be held “as soon as possible.”
