The war between Israel, the United States, and Iran entered its third week Sunday, with fresh threats, continued strikes, and growing anxiety over whether the fighting could choke off oil flows through the Persian Gulf.
Tehran escalated the rhetoric sharply. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement singling out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and vowing to hunt him down. According to reports carried on the group’s official channels, the IRGC declared: “If this criminal, the killer of children, is still alive, we will continue working to hunt him down and kill him with all our strength.”
The threat followed a swirl of rumors over the weekend claiming that Netanyahu had been killed or had disappeared. Israeli officials moved quickly to dismiss the reports. Netanyahu’s office called the claims “fake.” The prime minister himself posted a video that appeared to mock the speculation, casually addressing the camera in a relaxed setting.
אומרים שאני מה? צפו >> pic.twitter.com/ijHPkM3ZHZ
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 15, 2026
Meanwhile, Israel signaled it was continuing to press its military advantage inside Iran.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had killed two senior intelligence officials linked to Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Emergency Command, one of the country’s key wartime coordination bodies. Israeli officials also reported additional strikes late Saturday against infrastructure tied to Iran’s military research apparatus.
Among the targets, according to the IDF, was the main research center of the Iranian Space Agency—described by Israel as housing laboratories involved in developing military satellites used for surveillance, intelligence gathering, and targeting. Israeli forces also struck a separate facility believed to manufacture aerial defense systems.
Iran has continued to respond with missile and drone launches across the region. Israeli emergency services said a recent missile barrage aimed at central Israel was intercepted by air defenses, with no injuries reported.
For now, the conflict remains a dangerous exchange of blows rather than a full regional war. But each new strike and counterstrike raises the stakes.
Energy markets are watching closely. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply typically moves through the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Any sustained disruption there could send global prices sharply higher.
That possibility—more than any single missile or drone attack—has become the quiet pressure point of the war now entering its third week.
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