Iran has announced the closure of its stock market. According to reports, Iran's Minister of Economy stated today (March 7) that the Iranian stock market will be closed until further notice. Previously, the Iranian stock market had announced a suspension of trading until next week on March 1. Currently, tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate. The Israeli Defense Forces issued a statement on the 7th local time, stating that the Israeli Air Force deployed over 80 warplanes to carry out a new round of airstrikes on Tehran, the capital of Iran, and central regions.
It is noteworthy that the Middle East situation is persistently disrupting the global shipping market. According to the latest information, Studio City International Holdings Ltd (MSC) stated that it will impose an emergency fuel surcharge on all cargo shipped from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to the Indian subcontinent, the Red Sea, and East Africa. Furthermore, most shipping companies on Middle East routes have chosen to suspend cargo acceptance.
Iran announced the closure of its stock market on March 7. According to a report on March 1, the Iranian stock market announced a suspension of trading until next week. A spokesperson for the Iranian Securities and Exchange Organization stated at the time that currently only stock market trading is suspended; details regarding spot trading or operations of other financial markets in the capital market will be announced later.
Additionally, the Kuwait Stock Exchange had previously announced a suspension of trading on March 1 local time. After a one-day halt, the country's stock exchange resumed trading on Monday local time. The UAE capital market resumed trading this Wednesday, with the Dubai and Abu Dhabi exchanges also adjusting the downward limit for securities to 5%.
Since the beginning of this week, stock markets in several Middle Eastern countries have experienced sharp fluctuations. According to Wind data, the UAE DFM General Index continued to plummet, crashing 4.71% on Wednesday, with a cumulative weekly decline of 9.01%; the FTSE Abu Dhabi General Index saw a cumulative weekly drop of 5.27%; the Saudi stock market opened significantly lower last Sunday local time, then recorded gains over the next four trading days, ending the week with a cumulative increase of 0.63%; conversely, the Israeli stock market strengthened against the trend, with the Tel Aviv TA35 Index rising a cumulative 5.53% for the week, hitting a record high.
Currently, tensions in the Middle East continue to intensify. According to reports, explosions were heard in parts of eastern Tehran, Iran, on March 7 local time. The head 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 attacked. The head mentioned that these targets included 14 medical centers, 65 schools, and 13 centers belonging to the Red Crescent Society. The attacks also damaged multiple search, rescue, and ambulance vehicles, and injured several Red Crescent rescue personnel while they were performing humanitarian tasks.
Israel: Deploys Over 80 Warplanes According to reports, the Israeli Defense Forces issued a statement on the 7th local time, stating that the Israeli Air Force deployed over 80 warplanes to carry out a new round of airstrikes on Tehran, the capital of Iran, and central regions, targeting multiple military objectives including missile storage facilities. The statement said this round of airstrikes "aims to intensify strikes against Iran's missile launch and defense capabilities." Targets included an underground facility used for storing ballistic missiles, containing military bunkers and command centers. Hundreds of military personnel were present at the time of the attack. The Israeli military also struck a storage facility for Iran's missile forces containing military bunkers and launch apparatus, as well as missile launch sites in several regions of Iran. The statement also said the Israeli military attacked Imam Hossein University in Iran. The Israeli military claimed the university is a primary military academy for the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), housing "various military facilities" of the IRGC.
A spokesperson for the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces stated on March 7 local time that strikes against the US and Israel will continue. The spokesperson claimed that, so far, Iran has struck all bases that served as sources of aggression against Iran; countries that have not provided space and facilities to the US and Israel are not, and will not become, targets.
In other news, according to a report from Iran's Fars News Agency, the missile forces of the IRGC struck three strongholds of "separatist armed forces" in the Iraqi Kurdistan region in the early hours of the 7th. Iran's representative to the Supreme National Defense Council, Ahmad Vahidi, warned on the 6th that if Kurdish armed forces cross the border into Iran, all facilities in the Iraqi Kurdistan region would become targets. US President Donald Trump said in a media interview on the 5th that he "encourages" Iranian Kurdish anti-government forces within Iraq to cross the border into Iran. Other media reported that Trump also requested Kurds in Iraq to assist US military operations against Iran.
Studio City International Holdings Ltd: Imposes Emergency Fuel Surcharge News on March 7 stated that Studio City International Holdings Ltd (MSC) said it will impose an emergency fuel surcharge on all cargo shipped from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to the Indian subcontinent, the Red Sea, and East Africa. Effective from March 16, 2026, until further notice, the Emergency Fuel Surcharge (EFS) for shipments from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to the Red Sea region will be charged at USD 30 per dry TEU and USD 50 per reefer TEU; the EFS for shipments from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to East Africa will be charged at USD 60 per dry TEU and USD 90 per reefer TEU.
According to financial reports, in recent days, affected by the geopolitical situation, ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has almost completely stalled. Industry insiders stated that for goods in transit, some foreign shipping companies have announced an "Emergency Conflict Surcharge," ranging from USD 1,000 to USD 3,000 per container. Furthermore, shipping costs in the India-Pakistan region and the Red Sea region around the Strait of Hormuz are also rising significantly. Current freight rates to Red Sea ports have increased from approximately USD 3,000 per container to around USD 10,000 per container. Apart from choosing detours, some shipping companies have even announced contract terminations, unloading goods at nearby ports and asking clients to make their own arrangements.