Bessent says Gulf oil trade will get U.S. help

Iran’s foreign minister told his Qatari counterpart in a phone call that Iranian missile strikes in Qatar “were directed at American interests,” according to Doha’s foreign affairs ministry.

But Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign affairs leader, “categorically rejected these claims,” the ministry’s official X account said in a translated post.

The Qatari minister affirmed “that the facts on the ground clearly demonstrate that the targets struck civilian and residential areas within the State of Qatar, including the vicinity of Hamad International Airport, critical infrastructure, and industrial zones that included liquefied natural gas production facilities — actions that constitute a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar and the principles of international law,” the post said.

He called for an immediate end to the attacks on regional powers that have “distanced themselves from this war” and stressed a desire for diplomacy, according to the post.

— Kevin Breuninger

The insurance industry is eagerly awaiting further details on Trump’s pledge to smooth energy transit through the Strait of Hormuz by providing political risk insurance and military convoy escort.

But an industry expert told CNBC that, despite a lack of specifics, Trump’s promise is a very positive signal for the overall insurance market, as it likely will provide needed stabilization as private markets reprice.

“If the government provides a backstop like this … that’s great, because then it allows the creativity here in the London market to say, okay, we can insure everything above a certain limit, we don’t have to worry about everything that’s happening down in what we call the working layers,” said David Flandro, Howden head of industry analysis and strategic advisory. Howden is a major international insurance group and risk management firm.

This, in turn, would allow the insurance market to handle the higher layers, which will open up the insurance market and open up trade, Flandro explained.

Flandro says that although it does take time to create a new insurance product, he’s confident that the specialty market in London would be able to react quickly, as it has done after natural disasters and terror attacks.

“As soon as we have a facility with contract certainty, with guaranteed backing from the U.S. government, the insurance market, can react immediately,” he said.

The key items the industry is awaiting are how much capital and limit is available, what are the terms and conditions, and where they can underwrite.

“We will see capacity entering as soon as it happens,” Flandro added.

Separately, the global insurance broker Marsh says the company is currently in communications with the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. to understand what sort of product will be offered.

However, the conversations were described as very much in the infancy stages.

— Dawn Giel

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to offer any new information about who bore responsibility for a strike on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran that, according to Iranian state media, killed at least 175 people.

“All I can say is that we’re investigating that,” Hegseth said. “We, of course, never target civilian targets, but we’re taking a look and investigating that.”

When a reporter followed up, noting it has been several days since the Saturday attack took place, Hegseth said only, “We’re investigating it.”

— Kevin Breuninger

A U.S. submarine fired a torpedo that sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, Hegseth said.

“Quiet death,” Hegseth boasted of the attack, which he said was the “first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two.”

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the sub used a “single Mark 48 torpedo to achieve immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.”

The U.S. has “effectively neutralized, at this point in time, Iran’s major naval presence in theater out there.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. and Israel expect to obtain “complete control of Iranian skies” within a few days.

Hegseth at a press briefing said this means that Iranian leaders will be “looking up and seeing only us and Israeli air power every minute of every day, until we decide it’s over and Iran will be able to do nothing about it.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a briefing with reporters this morning, provided an update on the military operations in Iran, saying “America is winning decisively” and “more forces are arriving.”  Hegseth was joined by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.

You can watch the full briefing here:

— Mary Catherine Wellons

Bessent has told CNBC that the Spanish government “put American lives at risk” when it prevented two jointly operated bases in its territory from being used in the U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran.

His comments come shortly after Trump pledged to sever trade ties with Madrid over the issue, and reiterated his anger at Spain’s refusal to meet the NATO defense spending target of 5% of GDP.

“President Trump’s frustration with the Spanish government is justified, that first of all, they have been terrible actors. They are the only NATO member not meeting their NATO requirement. That’s known as a free rider,” Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday.

“And then it was unacceptable over the weekend that the Spanish were highly uncooperative regarding the U.S. bases and what we could do with our planes as we began executing on Operation Epic Fury,” Bessent said.

“Anything that slows down our ability to engage and prosecute this war in the fastest, most effective manner puts American lives at risk. The Spanish put American lives at risk,” he continued.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez doubled down on his criticism of the U.S. strikes against Iran, saying earlier in the day that his government’s position could be summarized in just three words: “No to war.”

— Sam Meredith

Turkey said it has intercepted a projectile launched from Iran.

“A ballistic munition detected to have been launched from Iran and, after passing through the airspace of Iraq and Syria, directed towards Turkish airspace, was timely engaged and neutralized by NATO air and missile defense assets deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Turkey’s defense ministry said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

No one was hurt in the incident, Turkey said.

Turkey called on all parties to “refrain from steps that could further escalate the conflict in the region”.

— Azhar Sukri, April Roach

Bessent said the U.S. will make make announcements supporting the oil trade in the Gulf.

“We began yesterday with the announcement that DFC will provide the insurance for both the Crude Carriers and the cargo ships operating in around the Gulf over the weekend,” Bessent told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday.

Read the full story.

— Azhar Sukri

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called on Wednesday for a ceasefire in the Middle East and offered to mediate any future peace talks.

“We want this madness to come to an end,” he told reporters in a broadcast by local news station Newzroom Afrika. “South Africa is always ready to play a contributing role in mediation, if a gap opens or we are asked, we always live up to obligations. We are a global citizen so we can play whatever role that the UN would like us to play.”

Asked whether he had spoken to Trump, Ramaphosa said: “Donald Trump is very busy right now, he’s got a war on his hands.” He added that if he had the opportunity to speak to his U.S. counterpart, he would urge him to agree a ceasefire with Iran.

“And we want this war to come to an end immediately. We’re losing too many lives and unnecessarily so,” he told journalists.

Last year, Ramaphosa and Trump clashed in an Oval Office meeting after the U.S. president made claims about a “white genocide” in South Africa.

— Chloe Taylor

Reza Pahlavi, the U.S.-based son of Iran’s late Shah who was exiled after the 1979 revolution, urged Iranians living overseas to push their governments to seek regime change in Tehran.

In a post on X, Pahlavi asked his compatriots to “contact the representatives and decision-makers in the countries where you reside. Convince them that support for the Iranian people must continue until the moment of the Islamic Republic’s collapse”.

He also urged overseas Iranians to participate in “grand marches, demonstrate and declare what the Iranian people want”.

“Fateful moments lie ahead of us. Moments that will shape Iran’s future for decades and centuries to come,” Pahlavi said.

— Azhar Sukri

Markets have had a surprisingly “benign” reaction to the Middle East conflict, said Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon.

“I think it’s going to take a couple of weeks for markets to really digest the implications of what’s happened both in the short term or in the medium term,” Solomon said Tuesday at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit.

U.S. stocks have been volatile the past few days and are set to open lower on Wednesday, while oil prices have surged over shipping disruption fears.

“The one thing that happens for sure whenever you have an event like this is people want a higher risk premium for any kind of risk asset they’re in, and so people start repricing things at the margin. And certainly we’re seeing that,” Solomon said.

Read the full story here.

— Sawdah Bhaimiya

Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura crude oil refinery has been struck again, sources confirmed to CNBC, the second incident at the company’s largest refinery in days.

A Saudi defense spokesperson said an initial evaluation showed that an attack was carried out by a drone and no damage had been reported, according to the state news agency.

The 550-thousand-barrel per day refinery was hit by a drone on Monday, resulting in a small fire which was contained. The facility had been closed as a precaution amid the ongoing conflict in the region.

— Emma Graham, Emilia Hardie

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hit back at U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to sever trade ties with the southern European country, describing the U.S. and Israel’s strikes against Iran as a “disaster.”

In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday, Sanchez said: “Very often great wars start with a chain of events spiraling out of control due to miscalculations, technical failures, and unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, we must learn from history and cannot play Russian roulette with the fate of millions.”

Spain’s government had prevented two jointly operated bases in its territory from being used in the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran.

The decision prompted Trump to renew his criticism of Spain, having previously lashed out over Madrid’s refusal to meet the NATO defense spending target of 5% of GDP.

For more, click here: ‘No to war’: Spain PM hits back over Trump’s threats to cut trade over military base access

— Sam Meredith

Kuwait’s military says it’s dealing with a wave of missiles and drones in the country’s airspace.

“The General Staff affirms full readiness to deal with all threats to ensure the protection of the country’s territories and airspace, as well as the safety of citizens and residents,” the military said in a social media post.

The armed forces are “carrying out their tasks in confronting and intercepting them,” it said.

— Azhar Sukri

Israeli forces have launched their 10th wave of airstrikes on Tehran, the country’s military said on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X that it has “begun a broad wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran”.

The country’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the IDF will continue to act with full force to “crush the regime’s capabilities and create the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow it and replace it”.

“Every leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue and lead the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and to suppress the Iranian people—will be an unequivocal target for elimination,” Katz said.

The IDF also said one of its F-35 fighters shot down an Iranian YAK-130 jet. It did not provide any further details on this incident.

— Azhar Sukri

Stocks listed in Dubai and Abu Dhabi slid on Wednesday, as UAE exchanges reopened from a two-day closure that was implemented after Iranian drone and missile strikes on the Gulf nation.

Dubai’s benchmark index was last down 4.9% in early afternoon trading, putting it on course for its worst day since May 2022. Abu Dhabi’s main index was more than 3% lower, on track for its sharpest intraday decline since August, while the Nasdaq UAE 20 was down 4.3%.

— Chloe Taylor

Qatar Airways said on Wednesday its flights will remain temporarily suspended due to the closure of the country’s airspace.

“Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace,” the Gulf carrier said in a post on X.

Air travel around the Middle East remains restricted due to safety concerns as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran rages on.

Dubai-based Emirates said its flights remain suspended until 23:59 UAE time on March 4, while Abu Dhabi’s Etihad said all its scheduled commercial operations will be grounded until 14:00 UAE time on March 5.

— Azhar Sukri

A ceremony for Iranians to bid farewell to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will reportedly be held at 10 p.m. local time Wednesday.

Reuters, citing Iranian state media, said the ceremony will last three days. Authorities will announce the funeral procession at a later date.

Khamenei served as Iran’s supreme leader from 1989 until he was killed over the weekend in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike.

— Lim Hui Jie

A widening Middle East conflict has posed a fresh test for global central banks, as fears of an oil shock and renewed inflation risks complicate policymakers’ calculus for shoring up growth.

Brent crude prices extended four days of gains, rising 1.6% to $82.76 a barrel on Wednesday, hovering near the highest level since January 2025. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude prices also rose for a third day to $75.48.

“The ongoing Iran conflict solidifies the case for many central banks to hold rates steady for now,” a team of economists at Nomura said.

Brent crude has risen by 36% so far this year, according to LSEG data while WTI futures were 32% higher as of Wednesday.

As global natural gas prices surged, an LNG tanker bound for Europe reversed course and is now heading to Asia, according to data from analytics firm Kpler. This marks the first example of a ship diverting from Europe to Asia during the current price spike, the firm said.

European natural gas prices have surged 66% this week after Qatar shut liquefied natural gas production following Iranian strikes. The nation supplies about 20% of the world’s LNG and is the second-largest exporter, behind the U.S.

Kpler noted that the tanker, BW Brussels, highlights a widening price gap between regions as Asian buyers “compete more aggressively for supply.”

“With Asian markets highly exposed to Qatari volumes and prices surging in both Asia and Europe, further diversions for uncommitted cargoes are likely,” the firm added. That could add upward pressure to Europe’s Title Transfer Facility if buyers bid higher to retain shipments.

While more than half of Europe’s LNG imports come from the U.S., South Asia is especially reliant on LNG from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The sole export route for LNG from those two nations is through the Strait of Hormuz.

In 2025, Pakistan sourced 99% of its LNG imports from Qatar and the UAE, while Bangladesh and India each obtained 59%, according to Kpler.

— Pippa Stevens

Iran’s senior clerics responsible for selecting the next supreme leader are considering naming Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to the top post, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The clerics could announce the decision as soon as Wednesday morning, although some members had expressed concerns that the U.S. and Israel would target him, the Times said, citing three Iranian officials familiar with the discussions.

— Anniek Bao

Executives from U.S. defense contractors are expected to meet officials at the White House on Friday to discuss speeding up weapons production after recent military operations, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Representatives from major contractors such as Lockheed Martin and RTX, the parent company of Raytheon, were invited to attend the meeting, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is preparing a supplemental budget request of roughly $50 billion to replenish weapons used in recent conflicts, including operations in the Middle East. The proposal, which could be unveiled as soon as Friday, is still preliminary and may change, Reuters reported, citing a source.

The meeting comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the country’s munitions stockpiles are strong, adding that the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of “medium and upper medium grade” weapons. It was not immediately clear what weapon grades Trump was referring to.

— Lee Ying Shan

Several U.S. diplomatic missions across the Gulf have come under attack in recent days, according to State Department cables reviewed by a source and shared with MS NOW.

Dubai authorities said Tuesday that a drone-related incident caused a fire near the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, which was quickly contained. No injuries were reported.

A drone struck the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait, according to a Tuesday cable, though all personnel were accounted for. Amid attacks from Iran and Iranian-backed groups targeting the embassy, the State Department approved departure for more than 200 staff and family members.

In Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh sustained significant damage from a drone attack Monday, knocking out communication services. No injuries were reported as the embassy had already been evacuated.

The State Department and the affected embassies have not yet publicly commented on the incidents.

— Lee Ying Shan

The United States Central Command said it had destroyed 17 Iranian ships and nearly 2,000 targets, and dealt a severe blow to Tehran’s defenses.

“We have severely degraded Iran’s air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones,” said a senior U.S. admiral in a video posted on X.

— Lee Ying Shan