The China Mail - Iran warns against wider war as Trump asks allies to escort ships

Energy prices have soared across the world since Iran responded to the US-Israeli campaign by threatening shipping sailing though the strait, which connects major Gulf oil and gas exporters to the global market.

Trump responded on Saturday by urging "China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and others" to send ships to escort tankers, while the US military will continue to pound drone, boat and missile launch sites in Iranian territory on the north shore of the strait.

But the countries he listed have so far given only a guarded reception to the idea, and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, in a call with French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot, warned them to "refrain from any action that could lead to escalation and expansion of the conflict".

The UK ministry of defence was non-committal. "As we've said previously, we are currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region," it said.

Britain's minister for energy security, Ed Miliband, told the BBC the "plan now has to be to de-escalate the conflict... We are talking to our allies. There are different ways in which we can make maritime shipping possible."

South Korea said it was "closely monitoring President Trump's remarks on social media" while Takayuki Kobayashi, policy chief of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's ruling party, said the bar for sending Japanese navy ships to the region under existing laws was "extremely high".

Global oil prices have surged by 40 percent as Iran has choked off the vital sea passage and attacked energy and shipping industry targets in its Gulf neighbours. The strikes were in retaliation for the US and Israeli air campaign that killed its supreme leader and triggered the regional Middle East war.

As global markets reel, Trump has doubled down, telling NBC News in a weekend interview that he thought Tehran was keen to come to the table but that the US would fight on to enforce better terms.

He said might, again, bomb targets on Iran's oil hub, Kharg Island, "just for fun".

"Iran wants to make a deal, and I don't want to make it because the terms aren't good enough yet," Trump told NBC News.

Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has -- in a written statement -- vowed to keep Hormuz closed.

But Trump dismissed this and suggested his foe might not even be in control, saying: "I don't know if he's even alive. So far, nobody has been able to show him."

Iran said on Saturday that "there is no problem with the new supreme leader", even though he has yet to appear in public.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, announced a wave of strikes against targets in western Iran, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards branded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a criminal and vowed that they would pursue and kill him.

- Tehran cafes reopen -

The United States has urged its citizens to leave Iraq, where pro-Iranian groups have launched attacks on the US embassy and bases hosting western military units,

Despite the hardline talk from all sides, citizens of Tehran were able to go about their work week in the most normal atmosphere since the start of the war on February 28.

Traffic was busier than last week and some cafes and restaurants had reopened.

One resident whizzed down the street on an electric hoverboard, and more than a third of stalls in the Tajrish bazaar, a popular shopping hub in the north of the capital, had reopened, five days before Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Some shoppers queued at ATMs to withdraw cash. Online operations at Bank Melli, one of the country's largest, had been paralysed in recent days.

- Missile barrage -

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia said separately on Sunday they had intercepted renewed barrages of projectiles after an AFP journalist heard warning sirens in Manama.

Late Saturday, authorities in Dubai also said air defences had made further interceptions after Iran's military warned UAE civilians to avoid port areas.

On Friday, US forces struck military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, from which nearly all of Iran's oil exports flow.

More than 1,200 people have been killed by US and Israeli strikes, according to Iranian health ministry figures that could not be independently verified.

The UN refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran, most of them fleeing the capital and other cities to seek safety.

The Pentagon says more than 15,000 targets in Iran have been hit by US and Israeli forces.

US media reported that the Pentagon has dispatched the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and around 2,500 Marines to the region.

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C.Fong--ThChM