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International oil prices are surging by more than 8% to over $110 a barrel, driving up prices of various commodities, including gasoline, and putting pressure on the global economy. The price of Brent crude oil has risen by 50% since the war began.

As the Trump administration seeks ways to increase oil supply and lower prices, the Treasury Department announced on the 18th (local time) that it would ease sanctions on Venezuela and allow U.S. companies to do business with Venezuela's state-owned oil and gas companies.

Following the death of Iran's Minister of Intelligence, Ismail Ka'ab, in an airstrike overnight, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned of "significant surprises" to come. The previous day, Israel eliminated Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, and General Gholam Reza Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Basij forces.

Iran retaliated on Wednesday by attacking Israel, killing two people near Tel Aviv. Iran also attacked oil fields in Saudi Arabia's eastern region, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the Financial Times, Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, home to the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities, suffered "extensive damage" from Iranian missile and drone attacks, indicating a sharp increase in attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf region.

The facility accounts for about one-fifth of the world's LNG supply, and production disruptions from past attacks have led to price increases and instability in the international market, according to Bloomberg.

The United States was informed of Israel's plan to attack Iran's massive South Pars natural gas field but did not participate in the attack, AP reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, did not comment on whether the U.S. administration agreed with Israel's decision to attack the South Pars gas field, the world's largest natural gas field and a key source of Iran's energy supply.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack as a "dangerous escalation."

Iran is targeting the energy infrastructure and military bases of its Arab neighbors in the Gulf as part of a strategy to pressure the United States and Israel by driving up oil prices.

Iran has vowed to continue restricting maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.

 Several ships have passed through the strait since the war began, including vessels not only from Iran but also from other countries such as India and Turkey. Iran claims the strait itself is open but that passage is blocked for the United States and its allies.

Iraq, which had suspended operations at its main oil terminals in the Persian Gulf last week, announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq to begin exporting 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day via pipeline to Turkish ports.

Saudi Arabia is transporting some of its oil domestically via pipeline to bypass the Strait of Hormuz before shipping it from its Red Sea ports.

In response to the death of Larijani, the Israeli Revolutionary Guard stated on Wednesday that it attacked central Israel with cluster missiles, which are more likely to evade defensive systems.

Larijani served as a senior policy advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and was responsible for the strategy for nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January for his alleged involvement in the violent suppression of protests across Iran. General Soleimani was also sanctioned by several countries, including the United States, for his alleged involvement in suppressing dissent for years.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei expressed condolences for the assassination of Larijani in a statement published in the Iranian media. The statement read, "Undoubtedly, the assassination of such a figure shows his importance and how much the enemies of Islam hate him."

Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since his father, Khamenei, was killed in early fighting and he himself was wounded.

Mizan, an Iranian judicial agency, reported that Iran executed a man accused of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. According to the report, his name was Kourosh Keyvani, and he allegedly "provided images and information about sensitive locations" to Israel.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry condemned the execution of a Swedish citizen in Iran on Wednesday. The citizen, whose identity has not been disclosed, was arrested last year, but no further details are known.

In Lebanon, Israel continued its intense pressure on Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants, attacking several apartment buildings in Beirut and killing at least 12 people. Hezbollah began launching rockets into northern Israel after the conflict erupted.

About an hour after issuing an evacuation order, Israel demolished an apartment building in central Beirut. The Israeli military claimed that Hezbollah used the building to store "millions of dollars to fund its operations," but did not provide any evidence, AP reported.

Airstrikes in central Beirut by Israel killed 10 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Two more people were killed in airstrikes in the Bekaa Valley in western Lebanon, it said.

According to the Lebanese government, more than one million people, about 20% of Lebanon's population, have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes, and 968 people have been killed.

In Israel, 14 people have been killed by Iranian missile attacks. U.S. forces have reported 13 deaths since the commencement of Operation Epic Fury.

United States NNP=Chief Reporter Hong Seong-gu / Special Correspondent for this paper NNP info@newsandpost.com