‘No guarantees’ oil prices drop soon, US official says.

An emergency worker walks through the aftermath of a rocket strike in Holon, Israel, March 15, 2026. (Amit Elkayam/The New York Times)

By EDWARD WONG & MICHAEL CROWLEY

Fears about the global economic fallout from the war in Iran grew Sunday as U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledged in a televised interview that there were “no guarantees” that oil prices would fall in the coming weeks. A day after President Donald Trump called on other countries to send warships to the region to end the de facto Iranian blockade of the economically vital Strait of Hormuz, foreign governments responded with caution — if at all.

Israel launched a new wave of airstrikes on Iran, while Iranian forces said they were firing at U.S. and Israeli targets as the war continued in its third week, with no end to the fighting in sight.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS News that the country was “ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes” and denied Trump’s claim Saturday that Iran wanted to “make a deal.” “We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation,” he said.

The Israeli military said it had hit bases of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia in the western part of the country Sunday, while Iranian missiles repeatedly set off air raid sirens in Israel.

The danger continued across the broader region. Iraqi officials said four people were injured in a missile attack on Baghdad International Airport that was claimed by the powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, which previously said it was responsible for an attack on the U.S. Embassy there last week. Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted drones near its capital and in an eastern province, although officials did not say where they had originated.

Araghchi said on Telegram that the Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes — “is open to everyone, except American ships and those of its allies.” In practice, however, the oil shipped through the passage comes from either Iran or U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Wright told ABC’s “This Week” that the United States needed to destroy Iran’s military capabilities, including those that threaten the strait. “You will see the straits open again in the not-too-distant future,” he said, adding that the war would end in the “next few weeks.”

Here’s what else we are covering:

— Oil prices: The price of oil has risen steeply since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, even as governments around the world — including the United States, which eased sanctions on some Russian oil — have sought to calm the volatility and increase supplies. The average price for a gallon of gas in the United States rose to $3.70, up from $3.45 a week ago and $2.93 a month ago, according to the AAA motor club.

— Death toll: At least 1,348 civilians in Iran have been killed since the start of the war, Iran’s U.N. representative told the Security Council on Wednesday, the latest figure the country has provided. In Lebanon, officials said that 850 people had been killed. And in Israel, at least 12 people have been killed, according to authorities.

— Palestinians: Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians in two separate locations, according to Palestinian officials. Four of them were members of the same family, including two young children, shot dead in the occupied West Bank. Israeli officials said their vehicle accelerated toward troops, who feared for their safety and opened fire. In the Gaza Strip, eight police officers affiliated with the enclave’s Hamas-controlled government, which is backed by Iran, were killed in an airstrike, the Gaza Interior Ministry said.

— Americans killed: On Saturday, the Pentagon identified the six service members who died when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq last Thursday, bringing the total number of American service members killed to at least 13.