Up First from NPR - Iran One Week On, Oil Prices Spike, Latin America Meeting

Episode Date: March 7, 2026

More countries in the Middle East reported incoming fire from Iran over the week. Oil prices spike as shippers avoid the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump is attending a summit for Latin American leaders.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish. More information is available at Hewlett.org. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months. Echoes of Iraq and the U.S. strikes on around. As uncertainty grows over time and scope, I'm Ayesha Rosco. And I'm Scott Simon, and this is up first from NPR News. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was answering questions in northern Italy in February 2003 on a trip to reassure European leaders in the run-up to the Iraq War.

Similar questions now, both from allies and from worried investors who are watching energy prices rise. We take a look today on the podcast. That's after the latest developments in the fighting and a wrap-up of the United States. the Iran war's first week. And later, President Trump's plans for American influence closer to home. So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend. Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish. More information is available at Hewlett.org.

Overnight, Israel continued airstrikes throughout Iran, including the capital, Iran and continued striking targets in Lebanon. And early this morning, Iran's president apologized in a recorded statement for attacking Gulf states. The death toll throughout the region is rising, with more than 1,300 reported dead in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, and hundreds more in Lebanon, according to health officials there. And Paris, Carrie Khan joins us now from Tel Aviv. And I'm told you had to go into a bomb shelter, Carrie? Yes, I am. The air raid sirens went off, and I am in the safe room now.

A little echoy, but safe. All right. Thanks for being with us. Israel's military says it hit a number of sites overnight, and this morning, what do we know? Right. Israel's military did say early this morning, they sent more than 80 fighter jets into Iran and struck multiple targets across the country in Tehran, including what it says was the Revolutionary Guard's main military.

University. Israel says it has attacked hard Iran's missile and drone systems. I can tell you that the number of sirens going off in Israel have declined in this first week, but Israelis are still spending hours and bomb shelters. And like you said, I'm in one right now. And in the last 24 hours, sirens went off throughout the night and this morning. I'm just waiting for the all-clear signal. Okay. Iran's been firing missiles and drones around the region at nearly a dozen countries. What did Iran's president say today and what's reaction been? It was a recorded message. It was very short and it was put out on state media channels. President Masoud Peshikian apologized for striking Iran's neighbors, but he stopped short

of saying there would be no more attacks. He said Iran would only strike its neighbors if, quote, an attack on Iran originates from those countries and he added this. he says, I believe we should resolve this through diplomacy rather than facing problems by fighting, he said. But on Saturday morning, the air raid sirens went off in multiple countries throughout the Gulf. There was a drone intercepted in Dubai that temporarily suspended flights at that huge international airport there, sirens in Bahrain, and Saudi officials say they've intercepted nearly a dozen drones. There's been no official reaction from Gulf states yet about their Iranian president's apology. But this morning,

morning, NPR did speak with a Gulf official who said, quote, we will only believe it if we see it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. And this is interesting in a statement after the president's message, Iran's military stated that it still considers U.S. military bases and other U.S. interests in the region fair game. Israel has also bombarded the suburbs around Beirut. What's happening there? Sure. Israel says it's going after Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon and a Beirut suburb, believed to be a stronghold of the Iranian back group. Overnight they took heavy strikes in those areas of Beirut. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced. Many are living on the streets and camping on the beach fronts in the capital. NPR spoke with Mohamed Abu Ahmed. He's a 39-year-old father with two small children. They all fled their neighborhood and are sleeping on Beirut's beachside promenade.

He says we're by the sea. It's raining and cold and we are hungry and thirsty. Life is so bad. He says, then he added, this is all frightening and war is no game. And Israel's defense minister, Israel, Cats this morning warned Lebanon's president to act and take steps before we do even more to stop Hezbollah fighters. Or Lebanon, he said, will quote, pay a very heavy price. And Paris Carrie Khan in Tel Aviv, thanks so much. You're welcome. Now to the energy markets. Global oil prices spike this week. And that's pushing U.S. gasoline prices up too. NPR's Camila Dominovsky covers energy.

She joins us now. Camila, thanks for being with us. Happy to be here. And what's the latest? Well, prices really shot up yesterday. For the first half of the week, prices were up. But Rebecca Babin and oil trader told me on Monday that markets were not panicking. Well, she emailed me on Friday afternoon and said, quote, panic has officially set in, as in oil traders are panicking now. The global benchmark for crude closed for the weekend at a little under $93 a barrel. That's up from 70 before the attack.

And these higher crude prices have pushed up gasoline more than 14 percent, which is a bigger week-on-week jump than we saw after Russia invaded Ukraine. What changed from Monday to Friday? Well, hopes for a quick resolution to the conflict faded over those days. We have also seen attacks on oil infrastructure in countries across the Gulf region. But above all, there is this key waterway folks have heard about, right? Here's Halima Croft with RBC Capital Markets earlier this week. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively a parking lot with tankers avoiding going through the critical waterway that accounts for 20% of global oil. and LNG exports.

LNG is liquefied natural gas. And yeah, 20%, right? Iran has threatened to close the strait many times before, but never actually done it. And the near halt of ships passing through has had knock on effects as the days passed, right? Iraq and most recently Kuwait have had to stop some oil production because there is simply nowhere to put it. How is Iran keeping the strait closed? Yeah, it's not physically blocked. Some ships have actually gotten through.

But Iran has attacked multiple ships attempting the passage with drones and missiles, so do ship owners and captains want to risk the loss of an oil tanker, the environmental disaster that could create the lives of their crew, right? Meanwhile, ensuring a trip through the strait got a lot more expensive. I chatted with Neil Roberts from Lloyd's Market in London, which has been pricing the risk of sending cargoes. through war zones for centuries since the days of the British Empire when the ships in question had sales, right? And he says that coverage is available, but the price has to match the risk,

right? And this is very risky. Now, the U.S. has now offered to provide both insurance and naval escorts to ships in the region. But yesterday, the agency handling that insurance said that they can cover up to $20 billion total. J.P. Morgan Chase has estimated that the need is more like $350 billion. And as for the U.S. escorts, Roberts said that a lot of ships would really rather have a neutral escort from a country that is not a part of this war. Camila, can the world replace the oil that is stuck waiting to come through the strait? Partially. So we're talking about some 20 million barrels per day that's not moving. There are some stock. piles globally and some oil from the Gulf region can be redirected through pipelines if those aren't attacked. Kevin Book is the co-founder of Clearview Energy Partners. He says by his math, the world might

make up all but one to three million barrels. But that's still an enormous gap. And that's relying on reserves that would eventually run out. During other price shocks, after the invasion of Kuwait, for example, the run up to the war in Iraq, crises in the 70s, the U.S. was a lot more reliant on oil from the Middle East. Isn't that some solace for investors and consumers? Yeah, it is different now. The U.S. is the world's top oil producer, making more oil than it uses. That is one reason oil isn't like $200 right now, along with the rise of clean energy. But you have to remember, this is a global market for crude oil. So the oil passing through the strait would be mostly heading for Asia, not for the U.S., but Americans are still going to feel the price hikes. Not just in gasoline,

but in everything, because transporting stuff is part of the cost of everything we buy. And Pierre's Camila Dominovsky. Thanks so much for being with us. Thanks, Scott. President Trump is in Miami today, meeting with Latin American leaders in the hopes of countering Chinese influence in the region. It's part of a renewed focus by the administration on its so-called Don Roe doctrine, which looks like but doesn't quite rhyme with the Monroe doctrine and holds that America should aggressively dominate the Western Hemisphere. But several top Latin American leaders are not in Miami today.

Including those of the region's two largest economies. NPR's white house correspondent Franco Ordonez joins us. Franco, thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me, Scott. The Shield of the Americas Summit, sounds a lot like the Summit of the Americas. What's going on? Yeah, I mean, I will say, Scott, it's very different than the Summit of the Americas, which is kind of meant to gather all the leaders from the,

Western Hemisphere from the left, from the right, big countries, and small ones. This is actually a group of conservatives who are broadly on board with the president's agenda. And what countries will have representatives there? There's going to be 12 of them. They include Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador. And for what it's worth, it does not include Brazil and Mexico, which are the two largest economies or Colombia. But the White House says those attending will be signing a joint security declaration that basically encourages military force against drug cartels. And drug gangs across Latin America are a concern, aren't they?

Yeah, for sure. And many would love more help from the U.S., which has long provided some neonadne narcotics aid. And just as an example, a recent one, the U.S. military launched or joint operations with Ecuador to fight, quote, designated terrorist organizations. Of course, the U.S. is at war in the Middle East. How much time is there for President Trump to focus on Latin America's drug wars? or their relationship with China. I mean, Iran may not be a big topic of conversation at these meetings, but I will say it is part of the larger conversation.

Benjamin Gaddan had the South America portfolio in the Obama and White House. He says it's very significant that this is happening, considering U.S. history with the region. The expectation is always that Latin America will be bumped by a more prominent foreign policy crisis, the fact that the Secretary of Defense still travel to Florida for a meeting about Latin America and that the president himself is doing the same is a signal that the administration really will continue to focus on Latin America and not be pulled toward the regions that normally suck up so much attention in Washington. And for context, Scott, in his first administration, Trump canceled his trip to attend the Summit of the Americas in Peru in 2018 because of the

crisis in Syria. That was supposed to be Trump's first trip to Latin America. America, and it was largely seen as evidence of his lack of interest in the region. Well, this is a big reversal. What about China's investments in Latin America? Can the U.S. realistically counter Chinese influence that's growing? Yeah, I think the administration may be able to mitigate some of that influence, but as Gadan told me, you just can't wish China away. You can't bully countries into turning their back on China.

China is just such a major source of capital for the region, and it buys so many regional goods. And Gaddam told me there is no clear example than Argentina of Trump's challenges with China in the region. This is a country that received a $20 billion bailout from the United States. But where was its foreign minister just a few weeks ago, meeting with the Chinese foreign minister to reassure him that Argentina was open to Chinese trade and investment? Of course, the U.S. military recently staged an attack in Venezuela, and the U.S. is putting a lot of pressure on Cuba. today is someone going to address any of that? It's likely Trump will bring up Venezuela and Cuba, but again, these are handpicked leaders

who are eager to align with Trump. They're not going to raise concerns. I mean, some are struggling with migration because of the exodus with Venezuela, and they would appreciate more open Venezuela and Cuba. For them, the focus is seeing benefits working with Trump. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Thanks so much.

Thank you, Scott. And that's up for. First for Saturday, March 7th, 2026. I'm Aisha Roscoe. And I'm Scott Simon. Elena Tuhrick and Fernando Fernando Naro produced today's podcast. Our editors were Ed McNulty, Jacob Finston, Diana Douglas, Hannah Block, Kara Plotony, and Rebecca Metzler. Andy Craig directed. Our technical director is O Van Gngovan with engineering support from Tom Markito, Damian Herring, Jay Sizz, and Zach Coleman. Shannon Rhodes is our senior supervising editor. Our executive producer is Ev Stone. Jim Kane is our deputy managing editor. And tomorrow on the Sunday story,

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and the planet flourish. More information is available at Hewlett.org. Thank you.