Good morning. Maddy Morwood here with Friday's AM NewsMail.

It's our final briefing from ABC global affairs editor Laura Tingle, who has been bringing us the latest in the Middle East. This morning she explains how Iran has been turning this conflict into an economic war based on oil.

Also in the headlines: a war within a war is brewing on the Iraq-Iran border; the Tillies face the mysterious North Korea; and Pokémon's pivotal role in Australian entomology.

AND REMEMBER: You can now see more ABC News stories in your Google search results.

I'm ABC global affairs editor Laura Tingle in Dubai. This is the last of my daily updates; ABC correspondent Matt Doran will take over from Monday.

Iran has increasingly been turning the war with the United States and Israel into an economic war based on oil. You will have seen the pictures on the news of burning oil refineries and oil tankers across the Gulf. 

Scores of tankers are sitting on either side of the Strait of Hormuz unable to move, and vulnerable to Iranian attack. Unable to move, that is, unless they are carrying Iranian oil.

Iran’s Supreme Leader said on Thursday the Strait would remain closed, and a defence spokesman said no oil would pass through that could assist the United States or Israel.

Having provoked this situation, the United States has so far declined to help, with the US military reported to have turned down a series of requests from around the region to escort oil tankers or other civilian ships through the Strait. Donald Trump has suggested that the US and its allies could provide military escorts to ships crossing the waterway “when the time comes”.

Is there any other way of getting the 20 million barrels of oil a day that usually flows out of the Gulf to global customers? Well yes, there is one way to get at least some oil out.

In the 1980s, Saudi Arabia built a 1200km-long pipeline — the East West Pipeline — across the width of the Arabian Peninsula to carry oil which would normally be exported via the Gulf to the Red Sea.

The Financial Times reports that "about 30 so-called very large crude carriers, each capable of carrying more than 2 million barrels of oil, are heading to the kingdom’s western port of Yanbu over the coming days, according to shipbrokers, compared with a long-term average of about two a month". 

But the new route carries its own dangers, the FT notes. "To enter the Red Sea from the south, the tankers will need to brave the Bab al-Mandab strait, where ships have been struck in recent years by Yemen’s Houthi militants — and which is also within range of some Iranian missiles."

Thanks for joining me. You can keep track of the latest updates from Iran and around the world throughout the day via our live blog.

• The war within a war: On the Iraq-Iran border, troops are amassing as Iranian Kurds from across the globe gather to revolt after 47 years of being the victims of an oppressive and cruel regime.
• Capital gains tax: New analysis shows five of the six electorates with the largest capital gains tax discount benefits are held by independents. The MP of the largest CGT discount electorate wants to rein it in.
• Analysis with Barbara Miller: From MAGA-loathing "hillbilly" to Vice-President, JD Vance's rise and rebirth has been something to behold. But the war in Iran may test his considerable political dexterity.

• Matildas face North Korea: Sensational protests, head-scratching substitutions and some seriously impressive play — North Korea is one of this Asian Cup's best sides, and certainly its most mysterious. Here is what the Matildas can expect in their blockbuster quarterfinal tonight in Perth.
• Richardson exit: This week Dennis Richardson was willing to say enough is enough, resigning from the royal commission into antisemitism. He must have known his situation was going to be tricky, writes Michelle Grattan.
• Athletes and asylum: The choice for some Iranian women's soccer team members to stay in Australia is not the first time athletes have travelled for a sporting competition and chosen to stay. We take a look at the complex history of athletes seeking asylum.

- That's Dr Bryan "The Fly Guy" Lessard, who told the ABC that Pokémon laid the roadmap for him to become an entomologist and a taxonomist. 

He also believes Pokémon's developer predicted the future of citizen science with the 'Pokédex' — a quintessentially 90s digital encyclopedia which Pokémon trainers use to log each creature they find in a global scientific network.

Fellow entomologist Dr Yun Hsiao (pictured) told the ABC he named three Australian beetles after Pokémon in 2001, turning them into unlikely superstars of the insect world.

As the beloved Pokémon turns 30, a video game inspired by insect-collecting continues to shape how scientists think and teach about bugs today.

A new Nationals leader, a curious crocodile and a viral "hot priest".

Think you know the week that was? As is tradition on a Friday, here's our weekly quiz to give you a refresher on the past seven days of news. Good luck!

PLUS: The disability community's access to sport will be tracked for the first time ever in a new project from the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

And that's it for today. Thanks for reading! We'll be back at the same time on Monday with more.

Maddy and the ABC News Digital team.

On Iraq's border with Iran troops are amassing as Iranian Kurds from across the globe gather to revolt after 47 years of being the victims of an oppressive and cruel regime.