Meanwhile, the US offered a reward of up to $10 million for information about senior Iranian military and intelligence officials, including Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son and successor of Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign on February 28. The start of the bombing campaign followed a massive US military buildup in the region, and repeated threats by Trump to strike Iran, first over its brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters in January and more recently over its nuclear program.
Iran has responded with missile and drone strikes across the region, as well as by threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing traffic to a virtual standstill in that Persian Gulf waterway that had previously carried roughly a fifth of the world’s traded oil. The strait’s closure, and other disruptions to energy infrastructure in the region, have triggered oil price hikes, which the Trump administration seeks to counter. (Read More)
