The US and Iran are 13 nights into this — and oil just topped $100
The escalation between the United States and Iran has reached a 13th straight night of strikes, with Iran hitting back at Gulf bases and Brent crude climbing past $100 a barrel.
The war grinding on in the Persian Gulf is not letting up. The United States has now reached a 13th straight night of strikes on Iran, with blasts reported across several Iranian cities, while Tehran hit back with drones and missiles against American bases in neighbouring countries. And, as always when that region burns, the effect reached fuel pumps half a world away in a hurry.
What is actually happening?
Washington has stepped up the bombing and the US president again threatened “a massive attack”, language that suggests the escalation has not yet peaked. Iran, for its part, says it struck American military sites in Gulf states that host those bases. Several of those countries condemned the attacks on their soil, wary of being dragged into a conflict that is not theirs.
Why does this move the price of petrol?
Here is the thread tying the Middle East to the wallet of anyone living in Portugal. About a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel of water between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. The mere threat that Iran might close that route, on top of the strikes, was enough to push Brent crude past $100 a barrel — a level unseen for a while and one markets hate.
Costlier oil feeds through, with a few weeks’ lag, into pricier fuel and fresh pressure on inflation — exactly what the European Central Bank has been trying to tame. If you want to track how markets and the crude price are reacting, follow our daily markets tracker.
For now there is no sign of a thaw. As long as the strikes continue and the Strait of Hormuz stays under threat, the world — and your car’s fuel tank — will keep one eye on the Gulf.
Image: Goran_tek-en / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
