Global oil markets descended into chaos as fighting between Iran and Israel expanded to engulf energy infrastructure across the Gulf, raising the prospect of sustained disruption to one of the world’s most critical supply corridors. Oil prices crossed $100 per barrel, their highest level in years.
Israeli strikes on Tehran’s oil storage facilities killed four workers and sent black smoke billowing across the city. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened retaliation, warning Gulf states that they would face similar attacks if they failed to press Israel and the United States to end their campaign against Iranian energy sites.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait all reported Iranian drone and missile strikes over the weekend. Saudi air defenses intercepted 15 drones, a desalination plant in Bahrain was hit, and two people were killed in a residential area in Saudi Arabia. The scale of the attacks underscored how rapidly the conflict had spread beyond its original flashpoints.
A US service member died from wounds sustained during an Iranian strike in Saudi Arabia, raising the American death toll to seven. Multiple media organizations also reported that Russia had been feeding intelligence to Iran to help it target American military assets in the region, adding a new geopolitical dimension to an already complex crisis.
Iran’s political landscape shifted simultaneously. The country’s clerical body selected Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader following his father’s death, an appointment critics described as the establishment of a dynasty in a country founded explicitly to reject hereditary rule.
Oil Markets in Freefall as Mideast War Engulfs Gulf Energy Infrastructure
