Israel-Iran conflict top updates: Global oil prices surge to five-month high
Global oil prices surged to a five-month high on Monday amid escalating tensions in West Asia, following strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran's nuclear facilities, Reuters reported.
The conflict escalated on Sunday when the US joined Israel's war on Iran. President Donald Trump said that the country carried out a 'very successful attack' on Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan.
The United States' decision to directly enter the conflict came more than a week after the Israeli military struck what it claimed were nuclear targets, and also other sites, in Iran with the aim of stalling Tehran's nuclear programme. Iran retaliated with missile attacks on Israel.
Iran responded to the US strikes by threatening to expand its list of legitimate military targets.
Here is more on this and other top updates:
The benchmark Brent crude on Monday briefly touched the price of $81.4 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate hit $78.4, before falling marginally, Reuters reported. The prices stabilised at a about 1% gain. The volatility reflected heightened concerns about the potential disruption of fuel supplies, particularly because of the possible blocking of the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint. Around one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the narrow strait.
While no direct disruption to oil flows had taken place, the market was pricing in a possible Iranian retaliation, which could include targeting of oil tankers, Reuters quoted analysts as saying. Iran is the third-largest oil producer among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said that Iran's underground nuclear facility at Fordo had likely suffered ' very significant damage ' following the US strikes that used bunker-buster bombs. 'At this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordo,' the chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said.
The Israel Defense Forces said that it had carried out a second strike on the Fordo nuclear site earlier in the day, following the US attack on Sunday. The action was meant to 'obstruct access routes' to the site, the Israeli military said.
Israel also carried out strikes on Iranian security command centres and targets in the capital city of Tehran, including the Evin prison, where political prisoners are believed to be held, BBC quoted Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz as saying.
Iran warned the US of a broader military response, with a senior Iranian official calling Trump a ' gambler ', Reuters reported. 'Mr Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it,' said Ebrahim Zolfaqari, the spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters.
During talks in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that the strikes on Iran were not justified
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