Iran Targets Int'l Airport, Shipping   03/12 06:16

   Iran targeted the world's busiest international airport Wednesday and 
attacked commercial ships as U.S. and Israeli strikes rocked Tehran, while the 
United Nations' most powerful body demanded a halt to the Islamic Republic's 
strikes on its Gulf neighbors that threaten global oil supplies.

   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran targeted the world's busiest 
international airport Wednesday and attacked commercial ships as U.S. and 
Israeli strikes rocked Tehran, while the United Nations' most powerful body 
demanded a halt to the Islamic Republic's strikes on its Gulf neighbors that 
threaten global oil supplies.

   The latest attacks marked an escalation in Iran's campaign aimed at 
generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel 
to end the war that started 12 days ago. But there were no signs that the 
conflict was subsiding.

   On Thursday, an Iranian attack sparked a major fire on Bahrain's Muharraq 
Island, home to the island kingdom's international airport. Authorities urged 
people to stay indoors and close windows to avoid smoke. The airport has jet 
fuel tanks, and other tanks in the area serve the kingdom's oil industry.

   Also, an attack on Iraq's Basra port killed at least one person and forced a 
halt to operations at all the country's oil terminals. Farhan al-Fartousi, the 
director-general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, said the attack 
targeted a vessel in a ship-to-ship transfer area at the port on the Persian 
Gulf. Iraq's commercial ports remained open, though the oil terminals had been 
shut, according to his statement carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency.

   The first week of war with Iran cost the United States $11.3 billion, 
according to the Pentagon, which provided the estimate to Congress in a 
briefing earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the situation 
who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. The 
military reported spending $5 billion on munitions alone in the war's first 
weekend.

   Both sides have dug in, hoping to outlast the other as the conflict upends 
trade routes, chokes supplies of fuel and fertilizer coming out of the Gulf and 
threatens air traffic through one of the world's most-traveled regions.

   Iran has targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations and 
effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through 
which a fifth of all traded oil passes.

   In response, the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million 
barrels of oil, the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in 
a bid to counter the war's effects on energy markets. The U.S. planned to 
release 172 million barrels of oil next week from its Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve to combat steep prices.

   UN body demands Iran stop 'egregious attacks' on Gulf nations

   The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to approve a resolution demanding 
a halt to Iran's "egregious attacks" on its Gulf neighbors.

   Among the most recent attacks, four people were wounded after two Iranian 
drones hit near Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, though 
flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said. Firefighters extinguished a 
blaze early Thursday at a luxury apartment tower in Dubai Creek Harbor after an 
Iranian drone strike.

   At Oman's Port of Salalah, crews battled a blaze at fuel storage tanks 
there, according to the Oman News Agency.

   "The international community is resolute in rejecting these Iranian attacks 
against sovereign countries that are threatening the stability of the peoples, 
especially in a region of strategic importance to global economy, energy, 
security and security of global trade," said Bahrain's U.N. ambassador, Jamal 
Alrowaiei.

   The 13-0 vote in the U.N.'s most powerful body reflects Iran's isolated 
position as it has aggressively responded to Israeli and U.S. strikes. China 
and Russia -- two Iranian allies -- abstained from the vote.

   Their U.N. ambassadors called the proposal "extremely unbalanced" in not 
mentioning the strikes against Tehran that began the war.

   Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said it might leave the 
impression that Iran, "on its own volition and out of malice, conducted an 
unprovoked attack on Arab states." Iranian U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani 
said the resolution "deliberately ignores the root causes of the current 
crisis."

   Meanwhile, more attacks in Gulf countries were reported.

   Drones were launched toward the cities of Irbil and Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's 
Kurdistan region, while in the southern part of the country, an oil vessel 
flying the Australian flag was struck near Khor Al-Zubair Port, according to 
two Iraqi navy officials who also spoke on condition of anonymity because they 
were not authorized to comment publicly.

   The official said 25 members of the crew were rescued. It was not 
immediately clear whether any others were missing.

   Explosions rock Jerusalem while Lebanon hit by Israeli strikes

   On Thursday, sirens wailed and loud explosions were heard shortly after 
midnight in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. The Israeli military said it 
was responding with another "wide-scale wave of strikes" in Tehran.

   The fallout across the Middle East widened as Israel also struck what it 
said were targets connected to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

   An Israeli strike hit a car Thursday in Ramlet al-Bayda, a major seaside 
tourist area of Beirut where dozens of displaced people have been sheltering. 
Seven people were killed and 21 others were wounded, the Lebanese Health 
Ministry said. The Israeli military press office told The Associated Press it 
was "not aware" of a strike at that location.

   Blasts shook Beirut's southern suburbs Wednesday, producing fires and plumes 
of smoke. Israel's military said the strikes were in response to Hezbollah 
firing dozens of rockets fired simultaneously across northern Israel. It marked 
some of the heaviest fighting between the two since the war began.

   One rocket hit a house near the Israeli town of Karmiel, lightly injuring 
two people, according to Israeli rescue services.

   At least 634 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest fighting 
began, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Wednesday.

   The U.N. refugee agency said at least 759,000 people have been internally 
displaced in Lebanon.

   Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed there, and 
Israel has reported 12 people dead. The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while 
another eight have suffered severe injuries.