\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIranian drones struck Kuwait\u2019s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery Friday, sparking fires at the facility.The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. issued a statement on the attack and said firefighters were working to control the blazes.There were no injuries reported, the company said.Video above: What you need to know about the Strait of HormuzKuwait operates three oil refineries. Mina al-Ahmadi has come under attack multiple times in the war.Refineries are key to Kuwait\u2019s oil production because, without them, oil wells would have to be shut down for lack of a destination for the oil.Restarting refineries is extremely time-consuming for safety reasons and those wells would remain largely inactive until refineries are back on line.Iran fired on targets across the Middle East while American and Israeli airstrikes hit the Islamic Republic early Friday as the war neared the end of its fifth week unabated and the U.N. Security Council prepared to meet over Tehran\u2019s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.Despite claims from the U.S. and Israel that Iran\u2019s military capabilities have been all but destroyed, Tehran has continued to keep the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors. Bahrain and Kuwait both reported early morning barrages from Iran, while Israel warned of incoming missiles.Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it wasn\u2019t immediately clear what was hit.Iran\u2019s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and is impacting global economies.Video below: Trump on next steps in Iran warSpot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, were around $109 early Friday, up more than 50% from Feb. 28 when Israel and the U.S. started the war with their attacks on Iran.UN Security Council to take up Strait of Hormuz security questionShipping had flowed freely through the strait before the war, but U.S. President Donald Trump has said it\u2019s not now Washington\u2019s responsibility to get the waterway reopened, instead putting the onus on others, saying this week that the countries that depend more on fuel shipped through Hormuz should \u201cbuild some delayed courage\u201d and go \u201ctake it.\u201dThe U.N. Security Council was expected to vote Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would authorize defensive action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait. Bahrain\u2019s initial draft would have allowed countries to \u201cuse all necessary means\u201d to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France \u2014 who have veto power on the Council \u2014 expressed opposition to approving the use of force.Speaking Thursday in South Korea, French President Emmanuel Macron said the American expectation that the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened by force was unrealistic.Macron said a military operation \u201cwould take an infinite amount of time and would expose anyone passing through the strait to coastal threats from (Iran\u2019s) Revolutionary Guard.” He added that reopening of the strait \u201ccan only be done in coordination with Iran,\u201d through negotiations that would follow a potential ceasefire.Talks organized by Britain and involving more than 40 countries focused on political rather than military means to secure the strait. The nations, which didn’t include the U.S., urged increased diplomatic pressure on Iran and possible sanctions.Death toll keeps risingMore than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion in its fight with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militant group. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there. Rising reported from Bangkok. AP journalists Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tDUBAI, Dubai \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Iranian drones struck Kuwait\u2019s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery Friday, sparking fires at the facility.<\/p>\n
The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. issued a statement on the attack and said firefighters were working to control the blazes.<\/p>\n
There were no injuries reported, the company said.<\/p>\n
Video above: What you need to know about the Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n
Kuwait operates three oil refineries. Mina al-Ahmadi has come under attack multiple times in the war.<\/p>\n
Refineries are key to Kuwait\u2019s oil production because, without them, oil wells would have to be shut down for lack of a destination for the oil.<\/p>\n
Restarting refineries is extremely time-consuming for safety reasons and those wells would remain largely inactive until refineries are back on line.<\/p>\n
Iran fired on targets across the Middle East while American and Israeli airstrikes hit the Islamic Republic early Friday as the war neared the end of its fifth week unabated and the U.N. Security Council prepared to meet over Tehran\u2019s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Despite claims from the U.S. and Israel that Iran\u2019s military capabilities have been all but destroyed, Tehran has continued to keep the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors. Bahrain and Kuwait both reported early morning barrages from Iran, while Israel warned of incoming missiles.<\/p>\n
Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it wasn\u2019t immediately clear what was hit.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and is impacting global economies.<\/p>\n
Video below: Trump on next steps in Iran war<\/p>\n
Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, were around $109 early Friday, up more than 50% from Feb. 28 when Israel and the U.S. started the war with their attacks on Iran.<\/p>\n
UN Security Council to take up Strait of Hormuz security question<\/p>\n
Shipping had flowed freely through the strait before the war, but U.S. President Donald Trump has said it\u2019s not now Washington\u2019s responsibility to get the waterway reopened, instead putting the onus on others, saying this week that the countries that depend more on fuel shipped through Hormuz should \u201cbuild some delayed courage\u201d and go \u201ctake it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.N. Security Council was expected to vote Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would authorize defensive action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait. Bahrain\u2019s initial draft would have allowed countries to \u201cuse all necessary means\u201d to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France \u2014 who have veto power on the Council \u2014 expressed opposition to approving the use of force.<\/p>\n