The United States launched a second consecutive day of major military strikes against Iran on Tuesday, targeting about 90 military sites along its coastline, as Tehran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, sharply escalating tensions across the Gulf.
The world's leading economic and energy institutions have called for renewed efforts to resolve the conflict in the Middle East and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that although the global economy has remained resilient, the war continues to pose risks to growth, inflation and global trade.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts global natural gas demand will fall 0.5 per cent in 2026 as Middle East conflict-driven supply disruptions, higher prices and reduced LNG flows through the Strait of Hormuz weigh on consumption.
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.
Global oil markets are sending the wrong signal by treating the latest attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as a contained geopolitical incident rather than a potentially significant threat to energy supplies, warns the CEO of financial advisory giant deVere Group.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) vehicle sales is expected to decline by 3.9% y-o-y in 2026, to 3.90 million units, says a new report.
The risk of the US-Iran conflict escalating into a broader regional war intensified on Monday after the United States carried out a ninth consecutive night of strikes on Iranian targets, prompting fresh missile attacks by Tehran and raising fears that diplomacy may be losing ground to military confrontation.
The United States and Iran exchanged a fresh wave of military strikes for a sixth consecutive night, deepening fears of a wider regional conflict as Tehran prepared to expand its pressure on global energy supplies by threatening to shut another critical maritime chokepoint at the entrance to the Red Sea.
