World economy facing ‘major threat,’ IEA head says

Israel’s military was working to intercept Iranian missiles fired towards it, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a Telegram post, urging residents to take cover.

“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” it said. 

Israel’s home front command had sent a precautionary alert to mobile phones in the relevant areas, moments before the statement was posted on the messaging platform.

“Upon receiving an alert, the public is instructed to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice,” it said, asking the public to “act responsibly.”

About 20 minutes later, the IDF said it was safe for people to leave the protected shelters.

This came soon after the IDF announced it had begun a wide-scale wave of strikes “targeting Iranian terror regime infrastructure” in Tehran.
 

The Israeli military said on Monday morning that it launched a “wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian terror regime infrastructure in Tehran.”

Morning announcements that Israeli forces are launching attacks on Iran has become a common occurrence over the past three weeks since the war began, on February 28.

Explosions were heard across Tehran early Monday, according to Iranian media.

“Explosion heard in Tehran,” local media Mehr posted on Telegram, while Fars news agency said airstrikes had targeted five areas of the Iranian capital and that “terrible sounds of explosions have been reported.”

Fatih Birol, the chief of the IEA, gave a stark warning on Monday morning that the world is facing a severe crisis due to the US-Israel war against Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The global economy is facing a major, major threat today, and I very much hope that this issue will be resolved as soon as possible,” Birol said in an address to Australia’s National Press Club.

“No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction. So there is a need for global efforts,” he said.

He compared the current crisis to the oil shocks of the 1970s as well as the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“This crisis as things stand is now two oil crises and one gas crash put all together,” Birol said.

“The single ⁠most important ​solution to this problem is opening the Hormuz Strait.”

Welcome to our coverage of the US-Israel war against Iran on Monday, March 23.

The effects of the war on the global economy are being increasingly felt.

While the White House has made attempts to calm nerves by suggesting the war could “wind down” soon, there has also been mixed messaging, with President Trump on Saturday threatening to strike Iranian power plants if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic within 48 hours.

That deadline is set to run out on Monday.

For its part, Tehran responded to the most recent threat by saying it would strike energy and desalination facilities if its power plants are attacked.