Iran war: Oil stocks being used up at record pace, IEA warns

Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi is reportedly in critical condition after being transferred from prison to a Tehran hospital. Her supporters are warning that her life is in danger due to her ailing health.

 

DW News speaks with Nassim Papayianni, an Iran campaigner at Amnesty International, about Mohammadi's condition.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) denied reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently visited the country (see entry below).

In a statement by the Emirati Foreign Ministry, the kingdom said relations with ​Israel "are public" and "not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements."

The statement comes after Netanyahu's office said he had held a secret meeting with the UAE president, where Israel claimed the two countries had reached a "historic breakthrough" in relations.

"Any claims regarding unannounced visits or undisclosed arrangements are entirely unfounded ​unless officially announced by the relevant authorities in the UAE," the UAE Foreign Ministry statement said.

Rumors about Israeli and UAE meetings had been circulated, with the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal reporting that Mossad chief ‌Dedi ​Barnea made at least two visits to the UAE during the war with Iran to coordinate military actions.

Israel's ruling coalition has called to dissolve the country's parliament and pave the way for early elections.

The party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Likud, made the announcement on Wednesday, with the dissolution bill to be put up for a vote on May 20.

"The 25th Knesset shall be dissolved before the end of its term. Elections (to form the next parliament) will be held on a date determined by the Knesset Committee, which may not be set earlier than 90 days after the passage of this law," the Likud draft legislation read.

The move comes as Netanyahu appeared to face the possible collapse of his coalition amid mounting anger from ultra-Orthodox parties, whose members accuse him of failing to deliver on his promise to pass legislation that would permanently exempt young men from the ultra-Orthodox community studying in yeshivas, or religious seminaries, from compulsory military service.

Several opposition parties took advantage of the controversy and announced that they intended to introduce their own bill to dissolve the Knesset. 

Likud appears to have proposed the dissolution first to allow Netanyahu to control the electoral timetable.

If the bill is adopted, elections in Israel could be held from the third week of August, around two months ahead of the original scheduled end of the legislative term on October 27.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Wednesday said Tehran is demanding the release of four Iranian citizens detained in the Persian Gulf by Kuwait.

Kuwaiti authorities on Tuesday said ⁠four ​people who confessed to being affiliated with ​Iran's Revolutionary ​Guards were arrested earlier this month as they attempted to land on a Kuwaiti island. 

Araqchi accused Kuwait of attacking an Iranian boat, adding Iran had the "right to respond." 

"In clear attempt to sow discord, Kuwait has unlawfully attacked an Iranian boat and detained 4 of our citizens in the Persian Gulf. This illegal act took place near island used by the US to attack Iran," Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.

"We demand immediate release of our nationals" he added.

Kuwait's Interior Ministry said that two navy colonels, a captain and a lieutenant commander admitted they were tasked with "infiltrating" Bubiyan Island.

Iran claimed the men entered Kuwaiti waters mistakenly "due to disruption in the navigation system."

During the Iran war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a "secret" and "historic" meeting in the United Arab Emirates with President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, his office said Wednesday. 

The statement did not immediately clarify when the meeting took place or what was discussed. 

"The visit marked a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates," it said. 

The UAE and Israel combined have been the target of the majoritiy of Iranian attacks since the war was launched on February 28. The UAE is one of few Arab states that maintains diplomatic relations with Israel, as a result of the 2020 Abraham Accords.

Netanyahu's statement comes a day after the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said that Israeli Iron Dome air defense systems and personnel had been sent to the UAE.

The UAE has reported several missile and drone attacks since a ceasefire came into effect last month.

Iran believes it can leverage its control of the Strait of Hormuz for significant economic and geopolitical gain as the crisis in the Middle East continues.

In peacetime, the key waterway accounts for roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, along with other key commodities. But Tehran has largely blocked shipping through the strait since the United States and Israel began launching air strikes on February 28.

"Our oversight of the Strait of Hormuz will generate significant economic revenues for our country – potentially even doubling our oil income – and will strengthen our influence on the international stage," claimed military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia, according to the Iranian ISNA news agency.

The United States, which has imposed its own naval blockade of Iranian ports, has claimed to have severely degraded Iran's military capabilities and effectively destroyed its navy.

But Akraminia claimed the western part of the Strait of Hormuz remains under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) while the eastern section is controlled by the Iranian navy.

On Wednesday, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security commission, said a plan had been finalized to manage the waterway.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran intends to use this strategic position as a lever of power through strategic management of the Strait of Hormuz," he said, according to state television.

Last month, Iranian deputy speaker of parliament Hamidreza Hajibabaei said Tehran had received its first revenues from tolls imposed on vessels traversing the strait.

The senior United Nations diplomat overseeing the ceasefire in Gaza arrived in Jerusalem on Wednesday looking to advance the US-brokered deal agreed by Israel and Hamas seven months ago.

Nickolay Mladenov, a former government minister in his native Bulgaria, was last year named high representative for Gaza for US President Donald Trump's so-called Board of Peace, which was designed to oversee post-war plans for the devastated Palestinian enclave.

The truce envisioned an Israeli withdrawal from the strip, the disarmament of the Islamist militant group Hamas and the reconstruction of the territory after more than two years of war.

Seven months on however, Mladenov arrives in the region with efforts appearing to have stalled. Aid groups say Israel has not allowed sufficient humanitarian aid to enter the strip, while Hamas has not disarmed and remains in control of roughly half of the territory.

Since the ceasefire in the Iran war, Israel has stepped up its attacks in Gaza, with Palestinians fearing more airstrikes and a potential return to full-scale war.

The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 as hostages in a terrorist attack.

Israel's ensuing assault on Gaza has since killed over 72,724 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, including at least 846 since a ceasefire took hold last October. The Gaza Health Ministry is run by Hamas but its figures are seen as broadly reliable by the UN and various international agencies. Israel has dismissed the figures.

Germany is not facing shortages of oil, gas or kerosene as a result of the ongoing war in the Middle East, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told his cabinet on Wednesday, according to government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.

The cabinet reportedly requested a detailed reported from Energy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU), which found that Germany was experiencing higher global prices as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but no acute supply issues.

"We have also not noticed and shortage of kerosene," said Kornelius, adding that reserves were "comfortingly sufficient."

He said that the drop-off in gas supplies from Qatar could also be compensated.

A subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) confirmed on Wednesday that one of its tankers has leaked a small amount of fuel off the coast of Oman after being struck by Iranian drones last week.

The M.V. Barakah was struck by two drones near Oman's Musandam Peninsula on May 4, and aerial images from Copernicus' Sentinel satellites on May 7 and 9 showed a ⁠white ​streak trailing from the vessel.

"A ‌small amount of what is understood to be bunker fuel was unfortunately released ‌as ​a result of the incident," said a spokesman for ADNOC Logistics & Services.

He added that the Barakah "remains at anchor off the coast of Oman" and that the company was working "closely with the relevant ​authorities and specialist ‌response teams."

The Barakah was reportedly not carrying any cargo at the time of the drone strikes, and no crew members were injured. But the incident has underscored the ecological risks stemming from the Iran war.

"The white trail ... is definitely consistent with oil and is clearly coming out of ​the tanker," Louis ‌Goddard, co-founder of climate and commodities consultancy Data Desk, told Reuters.

Abu Dhabi is one of seven emirates which make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE)and has been targeted by Iran since the start of the US and Israeli-led war.

It is in the interests of both the United States and China to bring the ongoing war against Iran to an end, according to senior German politician Armin Laschet.

"This war has cost the whole global economy €30 billion so far," Laschet told German broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, pointing out that the majority of oil exported via the Strait of Hormuz is destined for China.

"That's why China must push for the strait to be opened again," he said.

Laschet previously headed up Germany's conservative Christian Democrat Union (CDU), leading the party to its worst ever election result in 2021, and currently chairs the German parliament's foreign affairs committee.

Speaking ahead of Donald Trump's visit to Beijing this week, Laschet said the US President would also be discussing sales of Boeing airplanes to China – a move which would increase pressure on European manufacturers.

"The Chinese have been purchasing European Airbus models a lot in recent years," he said. "If they enter into a deal with Trump, that will put the Europeans under pressure because there will be a knock-on effect on jobs [in Europe] if Boeing is being bought more than Airbus."

Israel said on Wednesday that it had launched a new wave of attacks across southern Lebanon, claiming to be targeting infrastructure belonging to the Iranian-backed paramilitary group Hezbollah.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said eight people were killed in strikes targeting cars on a highway south of Beirut, including two children.

"The IDF has begun striking Hezbollah terror infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon," the Israeli military said in a statement, hours after issuing fresh evacuation warnings for a number of villages in the area.

Two vehicles were targeted on a major highway linking the Lebanese capital Beirut to the south of the country on Wednesday, according to Lebanese state media, with the AFP news agency providing visual confirmation of at least one burned-out car and emergency services carrying a body.

Israel has continued to conduct airstrikes against Hezbollah despite a mid-April truce aimed at halting the fighting.

On Tuesday, 13 people were killed in attacks on towns in southern Lebanon, according to the country's Health Ministry, which said a total of 380 people had been killed since the start of the ceasefire.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned on Tuesday that he would turn battlefields in southern Lebanon into "hell" for Israeli troops in the country despite the ceasefire.

Since Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the wider regional war in early March on the side of its (Hezbollah's) Iranian backers, more than 2,800 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 200 children, according to the government.

A man was hanged in Iran on Wednesday after being found guilty of passing information to Israeli intelligence – the latest in a wave of executions carried out since the start of the current conflict.

"Ehsan Afreshteh, a spy trained by Mossad in Nepal who sold sensitive information to Israel, has been executed," said the Iranian judiciary, adding:

"Arrested and tried for espionage and collaboration with the Zionist regime, he was hanged this morning after ... the verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court."

Iran is the world's second-most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups.

Since the start of the war with Israel and the United States in February, Iran has ramped up executions, particularly in cases involving alleged espionage.

On Monday, an aerospace engineering student was hanged after being convicted of spying for Israel and the USA.

Foreign ministers from the BRICS grouping of countries are set to meet in Delhi, India, on Thursday for a two-day meeting which is likely to be dominated by the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.

The grouping, ‌which originally included ⁠Brazil, ⁠Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has expanded over the years to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – with the latter two on opposing sides in the current conflict.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Delhi late on Wednesday, with Tehran urging hosts India to use the BRICS platform to build a consensus ​condemning the attacks of the United States and Israel.

But Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal cautioned in March that it was "difficult for us to forge a consensus" because of members being directly involved in the conflict.

Who is attending the BRICS summit?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also ‌expected to attend the meeting but his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will remain in Beijing for the visit of US President Donald Trump and will be represented in Delhi by China's ambassador to India.

Given its robust ties with both Iran and Sunni-majority Arab states, China has so far taken a nominally neutral stance on the war in the Middle East.

"Glad that the foreign ministers from all the BRICS countries, except China ​who is otherwise tied up, are coming. This is a good sign on efforts to build a BRICS coalition around a matter ​of interest to emerging ‌economies and the global south," former Indian diplomat Manjeev Singh Puri told the Reuters news agency.

"Of course political solutions are difficult but the fact that they are meeting is positive and hopefully ​it will lead to a way ⁠forward."

Countries around the world are tapping into strategic oil reserves at a "record pace" due to "unprecedented" supply disruptions caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

The IEA said in March that it would provide global markets with 400 million barrels from the emergency stocks of IEA members, of which around 164 million barrels have already been drawn.

After a 129-million-barrel drawdown in March in the immediate aftermath of the initial US and Israeli attacks on Iran, global stocks were reportedly down by a further 117 million barrels in April.

"The pace of emergency stock releases picked up pace in April, with further volumes set to hit the market in the coming months," the IEA said in its monthly report, warning:

"Rapidly shrinking buffers amid continued disruptions may herald future price spikes ahead."

In response to the US-Israeli strikes, Iran has effectively closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz to Gulf oil and gas exports, sending prices soaring and forcing countries around the world to scramble for alternative supplies.

As the summer travel season approaches in the northern hemisphere, airlines are already warning of jet fuel shortages if supply disruptions persist.

"With global oil inventories already drawing at a record clip, further price volatility appears likely ahead of the peak summer demand period," the agency said.

"Higher prices, a deteriorating economic environment and demand-saving measures will further weigh on global oil consumption."

Hello and welcome to DW's coverage of the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran and developments across the wider Middle East on Wednesday, 13 May, 2026.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Delhi later today ahead of a BRICS summit which is set to be overshadowed by the ongoing war.

In Iran itself, authorities have hanged another person convicted of espionage.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest on this unfolding story and its impact on the global economy.

You can catch up on Tuesday's developments here.