Iranian official: Iran's oil exports have increased, and nationwide fuel supply is normal.

A reporter with the China Media Group learned that the chairman of Iran’s Parliamentary Energy Committee said on the 4th that Iran’s oil export volume has increased.

He also said that at present, fuel supply across Iran is normal, and that Iran has made the necessary preparations to deal with war. In addition, inspections and assessments of the South Pars natural gas field after the attack have been completed.

Related reports

Suddenly! The United States proposes a 48-hour ceasefire? Iran launches a fierce attack!

Over the weekend, the latest developments in Iran’s situation came in!

On April 3, local time, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported, citing an informed source, that on April 2 the United States proposed a 48-hour ceasefire to Iran through a certain friendly country, and Iran responded with a fierce attack.

On the same day, Iran announced in succession that it had shot down a U.S. Air Force fighter jet and an attack aircraft. The United States confirmed that a U.S. pilot from a fighter jet had been rescued and that it was searching for another pilot.

On the same day, according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Department of Defense, a total of 365 U.S. military personnel were injured in military actions against Iran. According to U.S. military statistics, the number of deaths is still 13 at present.

It is worth noting that after the conflict between the United States and Iran broke out, U.S. technology companies faced new risks to infrastructure in the Middle East. If the conflict continues for a long time or threats cannot be eliminated, it may force all parties to reevaluate their plans to set up data centers in Gulf countries.

Iran launches a fierce assault in response to the U.S. ceasefire proposal

According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, on April 3, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported, citing an informed source, that on April 2 the United States proposed a 48-hour ceasefire to Iran through a certain friendly country, and Iran responded with a fierce attack.

The informed source said that against the backdrop of tensions continuing to escalate and the U.S. facing severe difficulties due to a misjudgment of Iran’s military capabilities, the U.S. made this proposal. After the U.S. military warehouse on Bubiyan Island in northern Kuwait was attacked by Iran, the U.S.’ diplomatic efforts to seek a ceasefire became increasingly urgent. The informed source said that the Iranian side responded to the U.S. proposal by continuing to launch fierce attacks.

Based on the latest data released by the U.S. Department of Defense on the 3rd, a total of 365 U.S. military personnel were injured in military actions against Iran. The data shows that among these injured personnel, 247 were from the Army, 63 were from the Navy, 19 were from the Marine Corps, and 36 were from the Air Force.

According to U.S. military statistics, the number of deaths is still 13 at present. This includes 6 service members who died in Kuwait after being attacked by Iran, 1 service member who died after being fatally injured in Saudi Arabia, and 6 people who died in a crash involving a U.S. refueling aircraft.

Meanwhile, according to a report by CCTV News, in the early hours of April 4, local time, reports from Israel said that an industrial park in Israel’s southern Negev region “caught fire due to falling ordnance.”

In addition, there were also reports of ordnance falling in places including the central Israeli cities of Petah Tikva, Givatayim, and Rosh Haayin. Firefighting and emergency medical departments are handling the situation on site.

Earlier, Israel’s forces had monitored missiles launched from Iran toward Israel twice, and air-raid alerts sounded in many places across the southern and central regions.

Later that day, Israel’s National Territorial Defense Command notified residents in the southern and central areas that they could leave protected areas.

On the evening of April 3, local time, the Media Office of the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi confirmed that a fire broke out at the Habshan natural gas facilities due to debris from the interception of incoming missiles falling. It has reportedly caused 1 death and 4 injuries. It is understood that the facility has been temporarily shut down.

According to reports from Israel in the early hours of April 4, local time, on that day the Israeli forces carried out attacks on Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

U.S. technology companies face new risks in the Middle East

According to a report by CCTV News, in recent years, the Middle East has attracted the attention of U.S. technology companies thanks to ample funding, low-cost energy, flexible regulation, and geographic advantages of being close to the markets of Africa and Europe. Companies such as Oracle, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have rushed in one after another, driving a boom in infrastructure development such as artificial-intelligence software development and data center construction. However, some analysts have said that after the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, the situation has changed.

Kate Rooney, a reporter for CNBC, said that on March 1, Iran launched a counterattack that struck three data centers of Amazon Web Services. Two were located in the United Arab Emirates and one was located in Bahrain. This was the first time the infrastructure of a major cloud service provider had been targeted by a military strike.

The Bahrain side said that Amazon’s data center located in Bahrain was attacked again and caught fire. Since the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict began, this data center has been hit again. However, the report did not specify the extent of the damage.

Most large technology companies have close cooperation with the U.S. military and also maintain commercial ties with Israel, so these companies are likely to become targets of Iran’s attacks.

Muna Yakobian, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into commercial and military fields, the boundaries between these areas are becoming blurred. Therefore, components of AI infrastructure—especially data centers—are likely to become targets of attacks.

James Henderson, CEO of the technology risk management firm Helix, believes that threats of this kind targeting technology companies are forming a persistent trend. “In the future, crises will most likely, just like attacks on traditional strategic targets, directly target data centers and cloud platforms.”

The factors affecting future data center construction in the Gulf are not just the physical damage caused by the conflict. The Luxembourg market intelligence platform “IndexBox” said that if the conflict continues for a long time or threats cannot be eliminated, it may force all parties to reevaluate their plans for building data centers in Gulf countries.

Gene Munster, managing partner at a U.S. deep-water asset management company, said the conflict brings no benefits for investors. If the conflict lasts longer and energy costs rise, the investment cost for data centers would increase, which may slow down their construction progress. In any case, the outcome is negative.

Patrick Murphy, executive director of the U.S. investment firm Helix Global Asset Management, said that this also makes large technology companies start to hesitate: if the situation could change in an instant, will they still be able to make these kinds of long-term investments?

（Source: CCTV News Client）