Explosion Reported Near Demonstration In Tehran As Conflict Raises Global Economic Concerns

PTI, March 13, 2026, Dubai: US President Donald Trump posted a new threat to Iran's leaders Friday on his Truth Social website, saying: "They've been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them," Trump wrote. "What a great honour it is to do so!"

A large explosion struck Iran's capital in an area filled with demonstrators for the annual Quds Day event in support of the Palestinians, Iranian state television reported. Thousands of people took to the streets in Tehran on Friday, chanting "death to Israel" and "death to America." US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said more than 15,000 enemy targets have been struck.

All six crew members were killed when a US military KC-135 refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, the American military said.

Concerns are growing that the war's stranglehold on Gulf oil exports is destabilising the global economy. Brent crude oil, the international standard, remained over USD 100 per barrel as Iran kept its stranglehold on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Regarding the strait, Hegseth told reporters Friday "we're dealing with it and don't need to worry about it." The defence secretary told reporters that Iran is "exercising sheer desperation" in the Strait of Hormuz, which the Iran war has closed, blocking a significant portion of the world's oil.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added that the US military has "made it a priority to target Iran's mine-laying enterprise" impacting the strategic waterway. On Tuesday, the US said it took out more than a dozen mine-laying Iranian vessels. Iran has vowed to block the region's oil exports, with one official saying Iran's enemies won't get "even a single litre."

Meanwhile, Britain is accusing Russia and Iran of working together to inflict military and economic pain on the West. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Friday during a trip to Saudi Arabia that Moscow and Tehran are trying "to support each other and try to benefit together from attempting to hijack the global economy."

UK Defence Secretary John Healey has said Moscow and Tehran are collaborating on drone technology and tactics. The British military is investigating whether a drone that struck a UK air base on Cyprus at the start of the conflict contained Russian components.