{"id":60493,"date":"2026-04-03T04:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/middle-east-conflict-escalates-iran-launches-wave-91-missile-strike-on-israel-as-lavrov-convenes-sco\/60493\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T04:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:38:23","slug":"middle-east-conflict-escalates-iran-launches-wave-91-missile-strike-on-israel-as-lavrov-convenes-sco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/middle-east-conflict-escalates-iran-launches-wave-91-missile-strike-on-israel-as-lavrov-convenes-sco\/60493\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East Conflict Escalates: Iran Launches &#8220;Wave 91&#8221; Missile Strike on Israel as Lavrov Convenes SCO"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Iran\u2019s IRGC launched &quot;Wave 91&quot; of its missile campaign<\/strong>, firing a massive barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Tel Aviv and Haifa, forcing an estimated <strong>5 million residents into bunkers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rocket debris impacted 7 distinct locations in Haifa<\/strong> and its suburbs; while damage to infrastructure was reported, initial assessments indicate no immediate fatalities from these specific strikes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Energy infrastructure remains a primary target<\/strong>, with a separate drone attack sparking fires at Kuwait\u2019s <strong>Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery<\/strong>, further straining global oil supply chains.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with the SCO Secretary General<\/strong> in Moscow to discuss regional security, signaling a deepening of &quot;Global Majority&quot; ties as Western-led efforts in the Middle East intensify.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Market volatility is surging<\/strong> as investors pivot to &quot;risk-off&quot; assets, driving up the price of <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">Gold<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/GLD\">GLD<\/a>) and energy-tracking instruments like the United States Oil Fund (<a href=\"\/stock\/USO\">USO<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Middle East conflict reached a new fever pitch on <strong>April 3, 2026<\/strong>, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) initiated a heavy aerial bombardment of Israeli urban centers. Dubbed <strong>&quot;Operation True Promise 4,&quot;<\/strong> this latest wave of strikes utilized sophisticated cluster munitions and heavy ballistic missiles designed to overwhelm regional air defenses.<\/p>\n<p>In the northern port city of <strong>Haifa<\/strong>, local authorities confirmed that parts from intercepted and unintercepted Iranian rockets fell in <strong>7 different locations<\/strong>. While the <strong>Bazan Group<\/strong> refinery near Haifa previously reported minor damage, this latest barrage has caused further disruption to local infrastructure and residential areas.<\/p>\n<p>The economic fallout is spreading rapidly across the Persian Gulf as regional energy hubs face direct threats. A drone strike on Kuwait\u2019s <strong>Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery<\/strong> early Friday resulted in fires at several operational units, prompting fears of a sustained spike in Brent and WTI crude prices.<\/p>\n<p>Defense contractors are seeing heightened activity as the joint US-Israeli offensive, which began in late February, continues to target Iranian launch sites. Companies such as Lockheed Martin (<a href=\"\/stock\/LMT\">LMT<\/a>) and RTX Corporation (<a href=\"\/stock\/RTX\">RTX<\/a>) remain in focus as the <strong>Pentagon<\/strong> assesses that nearly <strong>50% of Iran\u2019s missile launchers<\/strong> remain intact despite weeks of sustained bombardment.<\/p>\n<p>In Moscow, the diplomatic front is shifting as <strong>Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov<\/strong> received the Secretary General of the <strong>Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)<\/strong>. The meeting highlights a strategic pivot toward Eurasian security frameworks as the <strong>United States<\/strong> and <strong>Israel<\/strong> pursue regime change objectives in Tehran.<\/p>\n<p><em>Analysts suggest that the SCO\u2019s involvement could signal a more formal coordination between Russia, China, and Iran to counter Western influence in the region.<\/em> This geopolitical friction is expected to keep markets on edge, with a particular emphasis on the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, where Iranian coastal defense systems remain a critical threat to global maritime traffic.<\/p>\n<p>As the conflict enters its second month, the <strong>United Nations<\/strong> has called for an immediate end to the &quot;spiral of death and destruction.&quot; However, with <strong>President Donald Trump<\/strong> maintaining a &quot;decisive&quot; military stance and Iran remaining resolute in its retaliatory strikes, a near-term de-escalation appears unlikely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Iran\u2019s IRGC launched &quot;Wave 91&quot; of its missile campaign, firing a massive barrage of ballistic missiles and drones [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[17744,3757,4031,4232,4491,4824,5036,5346,5415,9902],"class_list":["post-60493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-israel-iran-war","tag-lmt","tag-rtx","tag-gld","tag-energy-markets","tag-geopolitics","tag-irgc","tag-uso","tag-sco","tag-defense-sector"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}