Oil prices climbed nearly 2% on Wednesday as renewed US airstrikes on Iran and fresh sanctions on Tehran's oil exports reignited concerns over supplies from the Middle East after attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States launched a fresh wave of military strikes across Iran overnight, targeting more than 80 sites after Tehran resumed attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, further destabilising a fragile ceasefire agreed less than three weeks ago.
Attacks on commercial shipping resumed in the Strait of Hormuz, with two vessels struck in separate incidents that have heightened fears over the security of the shipping lane and threatened to derail recent diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions.
Shipping between Iran’s Dayyer port and Qatar’s Al Ruwais port has resumed following coordination between the Iranian embassy in Doha and Qatari authorities, a Reuters report said quoting Iran’s commercial attaché in Doha.
The United States launched a heavy wave of airstrikes against Iran late on Wednesday, marking the most significant direct attack on Iranian territory in days and sharply escalating a conflict that is increasingly threatening regional security, global energy supplies and international shipping.
Air defence systems in Saudi Arabia intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen on Saturday targeting oil refineries in Yanbu, Greek security sources a day after US forces launched fresh air strikes on Iran, said media reports. The defence system was operated by Greek military personnel.
US President Donald Trump has threatened "major military punishment" against Iran and Yemen's Houthi movement after two Saudi oil tankers were attacked in the Red Sea, as fears of a widening threat to global shipping pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time since May.
Brent crude touched $100.64 a barrel on Thursday, a jump of 7%, after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed to have struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
Concerns over the security of global shipping lanes intensified on Thursday after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, while US President Donald Trump warned he would retaliate against any Iranian attempt to target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Bahrain's civil air navigation infrastructure came under hostile drone attack during Iran's assault on the kingdom, but air operations remain unaffected, said a report, citing senior officials. All flights, including those transiting the Bahrain Flight Information Region, continue to operate normally, they added.
