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US and Iran strikes lift oil prices amid Strait of Hormuz dispute
Brent rose 4.3% to $79.26 a barrel after Iran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz while the US maintained the waterway remained open.
The US launched a new attack on Iran on Sunday evening, as strikes between the two sides continued over several days, according to BBC Business. Iran said the fighting killed one person and injured four in southwestern Iran, while Iranian state media reported explosions in multiple locations.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck US military bases in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain within hours of the latest US strikes, as the two countries traded escalation claims. The US said Centcom initiated another round of strikes at 17:00 ET and targeted dozens of Iranian military sites, including air defense, coastal radar, and missile and drone capabilities.
The conflict has also fueled uncertainty over whether the Strait of Hormuz is open. Iran said it had closed the key waterway until further notice, while the US insisted it remained open, with the BBC noting Tehran had effectively closed the strait after the late-February US and Israel strikes.
Oil prices jumped on Monday in Asia as traders reacted to the renewed hostilities. BBC Business reported Brent was up 4.3% at $79.26 a barrel, and US-traded oil rose 4.3% to $74.50, with global wholesale energy prices having swung widely in recent months.
Latest closeBrent $76.00 ▼0.4%