🇶🇦🇮🇷⚡- Heavy air defense activity over Doha, Qatar.

🇮🇷🇴🇲⚡- The volume of tankers and commercial cargo vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz has been reduced by 90%, Kpler reports.

🇮🇷🇴🇲 - The closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Credit: Kpler's MarineTraffic.

🇮🇷🇶🇦⚡️- BREAKING: Smoke rising from Al Udeid Airbase, Doha, Qatar.

Footage exclusively sent to Rerum Novarum.

🇮🇷🇴🇲⚡- There are currently 200 tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf, waiting to transit the Strait of Hormuz. 60 of those are VLCCs.

Source: Lloyd's List.

🇮🇷🇶🇦⚡️- Reuters confirms smoke can be seen rising from the western part of Doha.

🇹🇷🇮🇷🇮🇶⚡- The Turkish Ministry of Defense reports that they are closely following the movement of Iranian Kurdish separatist groups, such as PJAK and Komala.

The Defense Ministry states that any attempt at separatism in Iran isn't just a security concern for Iran, but also for Turkey and the wider region.

🇨🇳⚡- BREAKING: China has told its largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline, as the Middle East regional war risks crashing the global energy supplies.

🇮🇷🇶🇦⚡️- More explosions heard throughout Doha, Qatar.

🇨🇳⚡- China's Shanghai INE crude futures have surged to $98.5 per barrel!

🇺🇦🇮🇷⚡- The Financial Times reports that the Pentagon is considering Ukrainian interceptor drones to 'counter' Iranian drones

🇯🇵⚡- BREAKING: Japanese oil refineries, at risk of facing severe crude shortages amid the supply constraints due to the Middle East war, have asked the government to release oil from national reserves.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- Red alerts in northern Israel, along the Lebanon border

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- Sirens were activated due to a Hezbollah rocket attack, the situation is now ever with no reports of impacts.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡- 77 dead and 527 wounded since the start of the new Israeli-Hezbollah war, Lebanese Ministry of Health reports.

🇺🇸🇫🇷⚡- BREAKING: France has granted US access rights to all French bases in the Middle East on a 'temporary basis', AFP reports.

🇺🇸🇸🇦⚡- US floated the idea of putting US troops on the ground in the Arab Gulf nations to protect the energy infrastructures. The idea wasn't welcomed by Saudi Arabia, with the Kingdom preferring not to have foreign troops on its soil.

Note, Saudi Arabia adheres to the law of being the 'Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques', which prevents non-Muslim foreign troops being stationed near Mecca and Medina. In the 1990s, Riyadh witnessed a major internal conflict when it allowed US troops on the ground to assist in repelling Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.

🇷🇺🇮🇷⚡- "Russia has not provided Iran with weapons, because Tehran has not requested for our help," - The Kremlin.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- Red alert activated again on the Israel Lebanon border.

🇸🇦⚡- Saudi Arabia has increased the export of crude from its Red Sea pipeline to 2.5 million barrels per day, Kpler reports.

🇺🇦🇮🇷⚡- "We received signals from partners in the Middle East. There have been strikes by Iranian “shaheds” on civilians in those countries. They are seeking our expertise. We are open. If their representatives come, we will provide the expertise. Especially since there is also a request from Europeans and from the United States. Requests have come to us to share our experience with partners in the Middle East.

Regarding weapons: we ourselves are at war. And I said, completely frankly, that we have a shortage of what they have. They have missiles for the Patriots, but hundreds or thousands of “shaheds” cannot be intercepted with Patriot missiles – it is too costly. Nothing is too much for the people, of course, but they simply do not have that many missiles. That is why they need interceptor drones, which we have. Meanwhile, we have a shortage of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles. So, when it comes to technology or weapons exchange, I believe our country will be open to it," - Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine.