Close the stock market! Just now Iran announced! Israel launched a large-scale airstrike!

Iran Announces Closure of Stock Market

According to CCTV News, Iran’s Minister of Economy announced today (March 7) that the Iranian stock market will be closed until further notice. Previously, Iran’s stock market had announced a trading suspension until next week on March 1.

Currently, tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate. The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement on the 7th, saying that over 80 fighter jets conducted a new round of airstrikes on Tehran and central Iran.

Notably, the ongoing instability in the Middle East is disrupting global shipping markets. The latest reports indicate that Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) will impose emergency fuel surcharges on all cargo shipped from the Mediterranean and Black Seas to the Indian subcontinent, Red Sea, and East Africa. Additionally, most shipping companies on Middle Eastern routes have chosen to suspend cargo acceptance.

Iran Announces Closure of Stock Market

On March 7, CCTV News reported that Iran’s Minister of Economy announced that the Iranian stock market will be closed until further notice.

On March 1, CCTV News reported that Iran’s stock market had announced a trading suspension until next week. A spokesperson for the Iran Securities Exchange Organization stated that only stock trading was suspended at that time, and details regarding spot trading or other financial markets would be announced later.

Furthermore, Kuwait’s stock exchange had previously announced a trading halt on March 1. After one day, the exchange resumed trading on the following Monday. The UAE capital markets reopened this Wednesday, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi exchanges also adjusting their stock decline limits to 5%.

Since this week, stock markets across several Middle Eastern countries have experienced sharp fluctuations. According to Wind data, the UAE DFM General Index plummeted for three consecutive days, with a 4.71% drop on Wednesday and a total decline of 9.01% this week; the FTSE Abu Dhabi General Index fell 5.27% this week; the Saudi stock market opened sharply lower last Sunday but rose over the next four trading days, ending the week up 0.63%; Israel’s stock market defied the trend, with the Tel Aviv TA35 Index rising a total of 5.53% this week, reaching a record high.

Currently, tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate. CCTV News reported that on March 7, explosions were heard in parts of eastern Tehran.

The President of the Iranian Red Crescent Society stated on the 7th that since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, a total of 6,668 civilian facilities across Iran have been targeted.

He added that these targets include 14 medical centers, 65 schools, and 13 Red Crescent facilities. The attacks have also damaged several rescue and ambulance vehicles, and multiple Red Crescent rescue personnel have been injured while performing humanitarian missions.

Israel: Over 80 Fighter Jets Deployed

According to CCTV News, the Israel Defense Forces issued a statement on the 7th, saying that over 80 fighter jets conducted a new round of airstrikes on Tehran and central Iran, targeting missile storage facilities and other military sites.

The statement said this round of airstrikes “aims to strengthen the strike on Iran’s missile launch and defense capabilities.” Targets included an underground facility used for storing ballistic missiles, which housed military bunkers and command centers, with hundreds of military personnel present during the attack. The IDF also targeted a missile unit storage facility with military bunkers and launch devices, as well as missile launch sites in various regions of Iran.

The statement further said that the IDF also attacked Iran’s Imam Hossein University, which it described as a major military academy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, housing various military facilities.

A spokesperson for Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff stated on March 7 that strikes against the US and Israel would continue.

He said that Iran has so far targeted all bases linked to the sources of aggression. Countries that have not provided space and facilities to the US and Israel are not targets and will not become targets in the future.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missile units launched strikes early on March 7 against three positions of Kurdish “separatist armed groups” in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Defense Committee representative, Ahmadian, warned on the 6th that if Kurdish armed groups cross into Iran, all facilities in Iraqi Kurdistan would become targets.

US President Trump stated in an interview on the 5th that he “encouraged” Iran-backed Kurdish militants in Iraq to cross into Iran. Some media also reported that Trump asked Iraqi Kurds to assist the US in military operations against Iran.

Mediterranean Shipping Company: Imposing Emergency Fuel Surcharges

On March 7, MSC announced that it would impose emergency fuel surcharges on all cargo shipped from the Mediterranean and Black Seas to the Indian subcontinent, Red Sea, and East Africa. Starting from March 16, 2026, until further notice, the emergency fuel surcharge (EFS) for shipments from the Mediterranean and Black Seas to the Red Sea will be $30 per dry container (TEU) and $50 per refrigerated container (TEU); to East Africa, the surcharge will be $60 per dry container and $90 per refrigerated container.

According to CCTV Finance, recent days have seen nearly complete stoppages in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz due to geopolitical tensions. Industry insiders say that for in-transit cargo, some foreign shipping companies have announced “emergency conflict surcharges,” ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 per container.

Additionally, shipping costs around the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Indian subcontinent have surged significantly. Freight to Red Sea ports has increased from roughly $3,000 per container to about $10,000. Some shipping companies have even announced contract terminations, unloading cargo at nearby ports and leaving customers to arrange onward transportation.

(Source: Securities Times)