A bombed school in Minab, 30 sunk Iranian ships, strikes on Azerbaijan and Cyprus. Results of the week of war in the Middle East

On Friday, March 6, it also became known that Azerbaijan was withdrawing all diplomatic personnel from Iran.

On March 6, two drones struck a US military base near Iraq's Erbil airport, Reuters reported, citing sources.

According to The Washington Post, Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran for strikes against US troops in the Middle East, providing the location of US bases and other installations.

Naval warfare

The head of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), Bradley Cooper, said that the United States has already sunk more than 30 Iranian ships. Iran's furthest confirmed loss from the region was the frigate IRIS Dena. Tehran confirmed his loss the day before. The frigate sank off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4.

Civilian ships also came under attack. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced in the middle of the week that it had taken full control of the Strait of Hormuz, the only sea route from the Persian Gulf to the ocean, through which about 20% of the world's oil supplies pass.

Due to threats of shelling from Iran, dozens of ships are crowded in the region and cannot reach their destinations: the Reuters agency the day before estimated that at least 200 ships are anchored near the Strait of Hormuz, and about 20 thousand sailors are stuck in the region.

World trade

The almost complete stop of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has affected oil and gas prices. As of Friday, March 6, the price of Brent oil exceeded $90 per barrel for the first time since April 2024. It comes after Qatar's energy minister warned that he believes all oil and gas exporters in the Persian Gulf will cease production within days unless the US and Israel stop the operation against Iran.

Kuwait has begun to cut oil production due to storage overflow, following Iraq, which cut production by more than half earlier in the week, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE also risk running out of reserve capacity within three weeks, writes The Wall Street Journal. Oil prices, meanwhile, soared above $91 per barrel of Brent versus $72 a week ago, and gasoline in the US rose to $3.32 - experts warn that even after the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is lifted, it will take weeks to restore production.

Against the backdrop of interruptions in oil supplies, the US Treasury on March 6 temporarily allowed Indian refineries to purchase Russian oil. The relaxations will apply exclusively to the purchase of oil that was already intended for sale, but was stuck on tankers at sea, the head of the US Treasury wrote on Twitter (X).

In the case of liquefied natural gas (LNG), about 20% of its global production comes from Qatar, and products are also exported through the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar's state energy company QatarEnergy this week declared force majeure on its contracts. Moreover, if the war were to immediately stop now, the previous volumes of exports from Qatar could only be restored in a month.

The US and Israeli conflict with Iran has effectively stopped shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of the world's fertilizer trade passes, forcing producers from India to Poland to cut production, Bloomberg writes . Amid rising prices for fertilizers, wheat and corn, analysts warn of an inevitable decline in yields and sharp food inflation by the end of the year.

Experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), meanwhile, estimated US costs for Operation Epic Fury at $3.72 billion. The United States spent this amount in the first hundred hours of the operation, which approximately means spending $891 million per day. US President Donald Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social on March 6 that there will be “no deal” with Iran unless it involves “unconditional surrender”:

“After this, and with the election of a GREAT AND ACCEPTABLE Leader (or leaders), we and our many wonderful and very brave allies and partners will work tirelessly to bring Iran out of its near-destruction state, leaving it economically better and stronger than ever before. IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE,” his post said.

About the main events of March 5, 2026 - in the previous report - Iranian drones fell in Azerbaijan, attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf continue. Results of the sixth day of the war in the Middle East .